The Chilean forward lit up the Premier League during his time with the Gunners, but failed to transfer that form to Old Trafford
On January 25, 2019, Alexis Sanchez returned to Arsenal for the first time since joining Manchester United in a blockbuster swap deal involving Henrikh Mkhitaryan 12 months earlier. Inevitably, Sanchez was painted as the villain heading into the FA Cup fourth-round tie, and his early touches drew widespread boos from the Clock End faithful.
But in the 31st minute, he managed to silence the Emirates with a moment of pure magic. As soon as Romelu Lukaku picked the ball up five yards outside the box, Sanchez sprinted in behind the onrushing Arsenal defence, and the Belgian striker found him with a beautifully disguised pass. Sanchez then proceeded to calmly sidestep Petr Cech before producing a perfectly measured finish from a tight angle to put United in front.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side went on to win the game 3-1, with Jesse Lingard and substitute Anthony Martial also getting in on the act. But this was Sanchez's night, not only because he'd masterminded his former club's downfall, but because it was the first time he really looked like a proper United player.
Unfortunately, he failed to build on that platform. Just seven months later, Sanchez was loaned to Inter and never played for the Red Devils again. Many fans now consider him to be the biggest flop in the club's recent history, but why exactly did his move to Old Trafford go so badly?
As United prepare for a trip to north London to face Arsenal in the FA Cup once again this Sunday, GOAL looks back at Sanchez's torrid spell in Manchester…
GettyRidiculous pay packet – and the piano
Sanchez committed to a contract at United through to 2022 worth a reported £14 million per year after leaving Arsenal, which saw him become the Premier League's highest-earning player. According to , United also paid the Chilean a £20m ($25m) signing-on fee and another £10m went to his agent, bringing the overall cost of the deal to £93m ($116m).
Manchester City were also in the running for Sanchez, but ultimately refused to meet his wage demands. United thought they had beaten their rivals to a major coup, with then-manager Jose Mourinho describing Sanchez as "one of the best attacking players in the world" before claiming the 29-year-old "completes our very young and talented group of attacking players."
The Red Devils were so convinced that Sanchez would be a guaranteed hit at Old Trafford, that their media team even put together a cringe-inducing announcement video with the former Barcelona attacker playing 'Glory Glory Man United' on the piano. Suffice it to say, that clip aged like milk, and became a tool for rival fans to use against Sanchez after every poor performance – of which their were .
AdvertisementGettyVery mixed start
Sanchez scored 80 goals and laid on another 44 in 166 appearances for Arsenal, having initially joined the club from Barca in 2014. Arsene Wenger used Sanchez as a left-winger to start with, but he would go on to prove himself in the No.10 role before eventually being converted into a fully-fledged centre-forward.
There was a notable drop-off in Sanchez's output in the final six months of his Arsenal career, but he hit 30 goals across all competitions in his last full season at the club, including the crucial opener in a shock 2-1 victory over Chelsea in the FA Cup final. At times, Sanchez looked completely unstoppable; a quick, powerful and elusive forward with ice in his veins – and that's the player United believed they were getting.
Sanchez started well enough on a cold night in Yeovil, creating two of United's goals in a comfortable 4-0 FA Cup fourth-round win, but came crashing back down to earth on his Premier League debut. Tottenham beat Mourinho's side 2-0 at their temporary Wembley home, and Sanchez failed to muster a single shot, while only touching the ball twice in the Spurs penalty area.
It was a sign of things to come. Sanchez scored his first goal in the iconic red shirt as United bounced back with a routine 2-0 home win over Huddersfield, but only after getting lucky with a penalty rebound. And eight days later, they lost again, this time at Newcastle, with Sanchez guilty of missing an open goal that would have given his team a vital 1-1 draw. To make matters worse, Sanchez lost possession 36 times in both matches, twice as many as any other United player in a single match up to that point in the season.
Getty Images Sport'Lost confidence and energy'
Sanchez continued to figure prominently, starting 13 of United's remaining 15 games across all competitions in the 2017-18 campaign, but only mustered two goals. There were still fleeting moments of magic, most notably when Sanchez laid on two superb assists in a thrilling 3-2 comeback win over Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium, and he produced a Man-of-the-Match turn as the Red Devils beat Spurs 2-1 in the FA Cup semi-finals.
But he wasn't the game-changer United wanted, the one who ran defenders ragged with his footwork and fired in shots from all angles in the red of Arsenal. Sanchez seemed afraid to express himself in Mourinho's more defensive set-up, unable to build up any kind of rhythm out wide or in a No.10 role behind Lukaku.
"I believe he has lost confidence," Wenger said when assessing Sanchez's struggles at Old Trafford on. "The strength of Alexis Sanchez is to show initiative, to dribble, to take people on. These players are the most vulnerable when they have no confidence anymore because their game is based on feeling free to take the initiative. He had a high level of physical energy and he has lost that as well."
United finished the season 19 points behind champions City, and missed out on silverware after losing the FA Cup final to Chelsea, after which Scholes singled out Sanchez for some stinging criticism. "His performances, well they have to improve," the United legend told . "They can't get any worse to be honest with you. I think the next few games of next season are vital to him, he needs to get fans believing again and believing they are going to get close to City. They need a big player."
Getty Images SportCast out by Mourinho
Sanchez failed to rise to Scholes' challenge. The Chile international's first full season at United would turn out to be a nightmare of epic proportions, as he only found the net twice in 27 appearances across all competitions.
The first real reality check for Sanchez came when he was left out of a trip to West Ham in September. Mourinho played down the significance of the decision in public, but reported that Mourinho had lambasted Sanchez for his poor form in a team meeting on the Monday before the game.
"I wasn't picked. That had never happened to me as a player. It bothered me and I said it couldn't be possible," Sanchez said when addressing the incident the following year "To go from being one of the best in the Premier League to not playing in five months. I came to my house and I was very sad. The next day I trained in a double shift, because I love what I do."
That work paid off in the short-term, as he came off the substitute's bench to score the winner in United's next Premier League game against Newcastle, but the damage was already done. Sanchez had lost Mourinho's trust, and he was no longer a first-choice player.
Mourinho's eventual sacking in mid-December didn't change things either, at which point Sanchez had been laid low with a hamstring injury. By the time he returned in the New Year, United were enjoying a mini-resurgence under Solskjaer, and Sanchez had fallen even further down the attacking pecking order.
