Background
On the 5th August 2020, there was a celebratory feel as Manchester United progressed through to the quarter finals of the Europa league. The feelings of joy however were not due to the victory on the pitch but a so called victory off it. Alexis Sanchez, their multi million pound flop is now an Inter Milan player. He was signed in a straight swap deal with Henrikh Mikhitaryan from Arsenal who had cost them around £30m. His salary was said to be £390k per week. Inter Milan did not pay any transfer fee to sign Sanchez and he even got a payoff to leave. In total, United have invested around £60m on a player who made 32 league appearances in his two years scoring three goals in that time. In this article we will discuss whose responsibility is it to make players perform on the pitch, to develop them and could the outcome have been different if managed better?
Article
When Luis Suarez left Liverpool to go to Barcelona in the summer of 2014, there was a general belief that the ideal replacement for him would be Alexis Sanchez. Having kept the two transactions separate, Liverpool missed out as he wanted to live in London and hence joined Arsenal. An aggressive, hard working, fast and technically gifted forward, his time at Barcelona had been a success despite like all attacking players at Barcelona, playing second fiddle to Lionel Messi. At Arsenal, he was the main man where in four seasons, he had scored 60 goals in 122 league matches. He was influential to the Arsenal team similar to how Aubemayang is to them currently. However, his contract clock was running down and Arsenal needed to sell or lose him for nothing.
That is when this infamous swap deal happened. Since the summer of 2017, Guardiola had wanted take him to Manchester City but a deal could not be agreed. When it was clear in January 2018 that Arsenal were ready to sell, Guardiola still wanted him. However, Manchester United came in and offered him a much higher salary which if City had matched, he would have still joined them. It was city’s turn not to play ball and refused to do this and the player would join Manchester United.
Jose Mourinho was the manager at United at the time. For a player who grew up playing for attacking teams like Udinese and Barcelona, followed by his stint under Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal, it was clear that there would be a mismatch of football cultures. The more rigid, defensive and disciplined structure used so successfully by Mourinho to gain success did not suit the free flowing, mercurial talent that Sanchez brings to the table. His time under Mourinho was one of frustration for both parties. At times like this, you wonder who decided to make this purchase in the first place.
In the winter of 2018, Mourinho left and Solskjaer took over and it was felt that the United way would come back. And it did, albeit briefly. It is easy to talk about playing attacking football and a completely different thing to build a successful team playing with flair. After the initial results dried up, United reverted to either glorious defeats or victories playing a more stale brand of football. Once again, not suited to Alexis Sanchez’s style of football. We were back at square one. Weekly gripes about how much he earns a week versus goals scored became common, something we all will not miss. For those who do enjoy it, no worries, we can still talk about Ozil vs Wages for now or maybe Ramsey vs Wages if that’s allowed!
So who was at fault for this £60m wasted? Did United buy Sanchez because Pep wanted him or did they have a plan for him? Even if they did not have a plan for him, would you not want to make one for someone you are paying £1.5m a month? Agree that United are one of the richest clubs in the world but even this is taking frivolity of spending a bit too far. Sanchez was and remains a talented player who if harnessed, could produce moments of brilliance for you, to win you that trophy you need with a man of the match performance. Managers and the coaching staff also need to take the time to understand their players and find ways to motivate them, maximise their talent and optimise their use for their clubs.
We won’t ever find out fully of what happened behind the scenes but for the football spectators, it feels we missed out seeing Sanchez play alongside De Bruyne, the Silva’s, Sterling and Aguero. How would Guardiola have used him, maybe a question to ask one day when he can talk about such things. How would Klopp have developed him further had he been at Liverpool when he walked in through the door in the autumn of 2015. Klopp took an underperforming Firmino and has made him into one of the most creative number nine ghost strikers in world football through which his entire system flourishes. How would he have dealt with him? One point being expressed repeatedly that maybe he was on the way down due to playing so much football over the years. But Messi has played since the age of 17 and he seems fine as does Suarez and other similar players. Maybe, working with your sports scientists to manage this would be helpful.
Football players are human beings like the rest of us except they are amazing at kicking a ball and due to the popularity of the sport and the joy it brings us all, are rightly rewarded for it. On the 15th January 2018, Manchester City decided to walk away from the deal due the the wage demands and it has gone wrong since. There will be intense regret from the player’s side who never really thought about the whole package and ended up making the wrong decision. What could have been a glorious end to a career with cultured football teams like Udinese, Barcelona and Arsenal ending with playing under Guardiola with his brilliant footballing team will now end playing at Inter Milan, a team best renowned for structured defensive football in Serie A. To borrow a phrase from Jurgen Klopp in reference to something completely different but still applicable, the 22nd January 2018 was not a good day for football and an even worse day for Alexis Sanchez.
Football Features 