What Next For Alexis Sanchez, Unwanted By Both Inter And Man Utd?

Manchester United
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surely hoped they would never see Alexis Sanchez again. Loaned out to Inter
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for the 2019/20 season, the Chilean’s career at Old Trafford looked over. United were so desperate to get rid of the flop that they were willing to pay a reported €7 million in wages for Sanchez not to play for him, with Inter only paying a portion of the player’s salary.

While there was no compulsory option written into the loan agreement, Man Utd made the deal in the belief that Serie A would bring out the best in Sanchez, prompting Inter or another team to sign the 31-year-old permanently. This plan hasn’t materialised as expected, though.

Sanchez’s fortunes in the black and blue of Inter have been no better to that he experienced in United red. Injuries have hindered the Chilean, but he has underwhelmed even when he has made it on to the pitch. Antonio Conte has moulded a side capable of winning the Scudetto this season, but Sanchez has barely been a part of it.

It now seems likely that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be landed with Sanchez once again this summer. His stock will be even lower this summer than it was the summer before. At least last year there was doubt over who was to blame for Sanchez’s demise – player or club. It will take a lot for United to convince another team to take a risk on a player seemingly so broken.

The decline of Sanchez, a forward once considered among the Premier League’s and Europe’s very best, has been remarkable. At the time of his arrival from Arsenal
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, Man Utd believed they had pulled off quite the coup, beating rivals Manchester City to the signing of a top target. Now, they have been made to rue such a short-sighted move.

Indeed, there had been signs of decline in Sanchez’s game towards the end of his time at Arsenal. United paid no attention to them. The Old Trafford club has since changed his transfer market strategy, targeting young, hungry and largely homegrown players over established superstars who might be on a downward trajectory. The failure of Sanchez was a significant moment in his change.

Solskjaer doesn’t seem so down on the prospect of Sanchez returning to England this summer. “Alexis will come back in the summer and prove you all wrong,’ the Man Utd boss insisted when asked what his plans were for the Chilean forward and whether he would be sold or loaned out again at the first opportunity.

Sanchez himself has denied his regret at making the move to Old Trafford in the first place. “I’m very happy I went to Manchester United,” he said in a recent interview. “I’ve always said that. It’s the club that’s won the most in England. When I went to Arsenal it was fantastic – I was happy there – but United were growing at the time, they were buying players to win something. I wanted to join them and win everything. I don’t regret going there.”

Even if both men are truthful, Ed Woodward surely doesn’t feel the same way. He sanctioned the record-breaking contract Sanchez was signed to. It’s that contract, which won’t expire until the summer of 2022, that makes the Chilean so difficult to shift. If Sanchez is to be moved on it will be to the financial detriment of the player, so what’s the incentive for him to do so?

United might have no choice but to find a place for Sanchez in their squad for next season. Even as Solskjaer moves the club into a new age with the outlook brighter than it has been since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson, the presence of the Chilean will continue to be an unwanted reminder of past mistakes.