Alexis Sanchez is a Manchester United player (pretty much).
The Chilean was photographed entering the club’s AON Training complex on Sunday ahead of finalising his switch from Arsenal.
Only a matter of days ago, the thought of Sanchez joining United seemed far-fetched. For months, reports had claimed he would join Manchester City having narrowly missed out on doing so last summer.
A move to City might well have virtually guaranteed Sanchez silverware at the end of the season, but it’s been widely reported that the player himself opted to move to United instead.
In the time since it emerged Sanchez was Old Trafford-bound, some have written that his decision to move their was motivated largely by money – with United said to have offered larger wages to the player than City.
Writing for the Daily Mail, journalist Oliver Holt questioned this. He asked why United were being criticised for spending big to land Sanchez (if only in terms of wages), describing the deal as a great coup for Jose Mourinho and his club.
Holt also defended Sanchez, pointing out that in joining United, he will be joining one of the biggest clubs in the world – not Wycombe Wanderers or one of the Chinese Super League teams. He also rejected Martin Keown’s claims that Sanchez was a ‘mercenary’.
Reading between the lines, it seems the article has gone down well with Sanchez himself who found the time to retweet it to his 2.5m followers on Sunday afternoon.
Sanchez’s move to Manchester is anticipated to be a swap deal which will see Henrikh Mkhitaryan move in the opposite direction. The Armenian has struggled for form this season, despite playing a key role in United’s Europa League success last season.
