Sanchez is finally off to join his mate Romelu Lukaku at Inter Milan on loan. The Belgian international has apparently been working hard to persuade Alexis to switch from the red half of Manchester to the blue half of Milan.
It is unclear at this point whether or not Inter will pay Lukaku a small finder’s fee for his recruitment efforts.
What’s certain is that he will receive loads of Christmas gifts from very grateful United fans around the world.
Formless and Fomenting Trouble
Sanchez has struggled for form since his mega transfer to Old Trafford from Arsenal. He scored a paltry three goals in 32 appearances, hardly the kind of return the club expected from their highest paid player. It is a far cry from his sixty goals in 122 appearances for the Gunners, or his 39 goals in 88 appearances for Barcelona.
At Man United, Alexis looked tentative, sulky and bereft of confidence. Far from home and seemingly far from talented, he found himself out of favour, with younger and hungrier players ahead of him in the pecking order.
The past 18 months had been rough on the Chilean, and he often cut a forlorn figure and looked mildly constipated. The good news is San Antonio has now provided a timely deliverance by bringing him to Inter Milan on loan. Conte is rebuilding at Inter, and he’s keen to integrate Sanchez into his squad.
United are happy to remove the potential negative influence in the dressing room, who’s wages were public knowledge and destabilized others who were doing slightly more and earning far less.
The Real Scandal of the Deal
The real scandal though is that the Italian giants get an additional resource virtually free. United will continue to pay the bulk of the player’s weekly wages. Solskjaer may have won himself some respite from Sanchez-related stick he would get.
Sanchez can now stop being miserable and maybe start playing some football for a change.
It’s basically salvation for all the parties involved.
United would have prayed and hope to sell Sanchez outright, or at least send him out on loan with an option to buy. As it turned out, Inter only agreed to take him on board on a season-long loan WITHOUT a purchase option.
Draw your own conclusions.