Jose Mourinho makes revealing comments about Alexis Sanchez’s time at Man Utd

Jose Mourinho has shed some light on Alexis Sanchez’s nightmare spell at Manchester United, while the Portuguese boss was at the helm.

Sanchez, 33, had a disastrous spell at Old Trafford and was eventually sent out on loan to Inter Milan. Inter then made the move permanent on a three-year deal in August 2020. And the Chile forward has rediscovered his form somewhat with 17 goals in 93 games.

And one of those came in the Coppa Italia on Tuesday night as Inter defeated Mourinho’s Roma 2-0. Sanchez was influential in the quarter-final and scored a brilliant 25-yard goal into the top corner.

It was some way from his time at Old Trafford, where he became almost a joke-like figure.

Sanchez played 45 games for United after joining from Arsenal in 2018 in a swap deal with Henrikh Mkhitaryan. He scored just five goals. United had fought hard with Man City to sign the attacker.

United agreed a four-and-a-half year deal on a staggering £400,000-a-week. And after he scored on his home debut it looked like United had stolen a march on their rivals. But his form went downhill and he failed to recapture the performances that had seen him stand out for Arsenal.

Mourinho was at the helm when United landed Sanchez and after the game he was probed about Sanchez by ESPN in South America.

Mourinho said, via TuttoMercatoWeb, as cited by Sport Witness: “I exchanged a few words with him before kick off. In England, he wasn’t well, while at Inter, he is happy. He scored a great goal, which changed the course of the game.”

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Pereira deal close

Meanwhile, United have asked for 25 per cent of any future transfer fee for Andreas Pereira, as the Brazilian’s move to Flamengo finally looks set to go through.

United officials are said to be sorting out the final details for the permanent transfer of the 26-year-old midfielder.

Brazilian journalist Vene Casagrande, speaking on SBT, via Sport Witness, claims the clubs are currently “exchanging documents” with the deal set to be official very soon.

Pereira, who was born in Belgium, was loaned to Flamengo until the summer. Flamengo had a buying option as part of the deal set at €20m, but despite his success for the club they were unwilling to pay that sum for the player.

ESPN report that Flamengo had a £6.7m offer for Pereira rejected in January. But they returned to the negotiating table and Casagrande says the move is being done for around £8.85m.

Flamengo are keen to get a deal done for a player who scored four goals in 75 appearances for United.

United though are “demanding 25 per cent of a future move” to get Pereira out of the club.

READ MORE: Man Utd go big with Barcelona ‘offer’ as talks over new deal reach ‘advanced’ stage