Manchester United forward Alexis Sanchez is eyeing a move away from the club with Paris Saint-Germain his preferred destination, according to reports.
The Chilean joined United from Arsenal in January in a swap deal for Henrikh Mkhitaryan, signing a four-year deal at Old Trafford despite strong interest from local rivals Manchester City. But Sanchez has struggled to make a real impact at United, as the Red Devils have been largely unimpressive in both seasons currently spanning 2018.
And, according to The Times, Sanchez wants to leave United for PSG after failing to settle at both the club and Manchester, where he is said to be commonly described as “average” in Carrington training sessions, and where his new teammates are disgruntled by his vocal nature on the field.
It is further claimed United boss Mourinho has privately admitted he wanted to sign Inter Milan forward Ivan Perisic in the summer of 2017, which would have seen the club opt against signing Sanchez in January.
In the past, Mourinho has spoken of his admiration for Perisic, going as far as express his bemusement when the Croatian didn’t join United two years ago. But would Perisic have necssarily been a better signing for United had he moved to Old Trafford instead of Sanchez?
Sanchez vs Perisic: two contrasting careers in 2018
Since Sanchez joined United in January 2018, the Chilean and Perisic’s careers have taken very different paths.
The Chilean made his United debut on 31 January and would go on to score just three times in 18 appearances for the Red Devils across all competitions, while recording five assists.
In that same time, Perisic managed four goals and five assists in 15 games for Inter Milan, before heading to the World Cup with Croatia. It is perhaps unfair to touch so heavily on Perisic’s performance during a competition for which Sanchez’s Chile side failed to qualify. But it is with the national team that the Inter forward showcased, once again, the true extent of his abilities, along with a big-game impact to make a manager of Mourinho’s value system go weak at the knees.
In Russia, Perisic helped the Blazers reach their first-ever World Cup final by providing a goal and an assist to ensure they came from a goal down to beat England. Perisic would score three goals overall at the tournament, including one in the 4-2 defeat to France in the final, in which he also covered 10.1km, the third-highest among his team. Only six players at the entire tournament outscored him.
Sanchez has come in for much criticism this season, at one stage of which he was over 800 minutes without a goal for United. According to his former manager at Arsenal, Arsene Wenger, the player is devoid of confidence.
Alexis Sánchez has now gone 831 minutes without scoring a Premier League goal.
Can't catch a break. pic.twitter.com/Cg1WbDTOf0
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) September 22, 2018
But the current campaign has not been a cakewalk for Perisic, either. He has managed only one goal more than Sanchez has in league football, and the Croatian’s two have come from more minutes than his Chilean counterpart. It is also worth noting they came in back-to-back games against Bologna and Torino early into the campaign, so he is actually without a goal in 12 games across all competitions for Inter.
Sanchez’s sole goal in the Premier League has come from significantly fewer attempts on goals, as well – just 13 to Perisic’s 31 – and the Chilean has also recorded the same number of assists(two), despite the fewer minutes on the pitch and fewer chances created.
Inter boss Luciano Spalletti was forced to defend his player after a Milan-based news outlet, La Gazzetta dello Sport, ran an article laying bare how Perisic is down on goals, assists, shots on goal, dribbles and chances created compared to his figures from this stage last season: “Performances aren’t simply assessed based on goals and assists. He has played very well so far and has helped us achieve our current league position.”
The scrutiny over Perisic’s form this season aside, at least he’s a regular fixture in the Inter XI right now. The same cannot be said about Sanchez, who faces the ignominy of a spot on the bench tomorrow against the team he rejected under a year ago.
The post Compared: Alexis Sanchez vs the player Mourinho ‘privately’ wishes Man Utd signed instead appeared first on Squawka News.
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