Search icon

Football

24th Nov 2018

José Mourinho claims Alexis Sánchez has no desire to leave Manchester United

Manchester United boss José Mourinho has claimed that Alexis Sanchez has shown no desire to leave the club amid rumours that he could leave in January

Reuben Pinder

Sanchez has not lived up to expectations at Manchester United

José Mourinho has insisted that Alexis Sánchez has never shown any desire to leave Manchester United, amid rumours that the Chilean is unsettled and could push for a move in January.

Sánchez joined United from Arsenal last January as part of a swap deal that saw Henrikh Mkhitaryan go the other way and join the Gunners.

Since the move, Sánchez has underwhelmed at Old Trafford, scoring just four goals in all competitions in the past 10 months.

His poor run of form has seen him dropped from the United starting line-up, with Anthony Martial taking his place on the left wing.

Sánchez has only started five Premier League matches this season and has not completed 90 minutes since the opening day of the season, but Mourinho has claimed that the player has not shown any signs of wanting to move on.

“He has never told me that he wants to leave. He never told me that he’s not happy to stay,” Mourinho told reporters.

 He has been in and out of the team recently, playing a central role against Bournemouth and Juventus, before dropping to the bench for the Manchester derby, which United lost 3-1.
Sánchez then missed a penalty on international duty, fuelling more rumours that he is mentally unsettled in Manchester – rumours that Mourinho has played down.
While Sánchez may have shown no desire to leave, United may well be looking at ways to cash in on their rather expensive investment sooner rather than later after a frustrating first year.
Finding a suitor willing to pay his £400k per week wages could prove difficult, though. Only United would be silly enough to agree to pay him that much money.