Wenger credits Mourinho masterstroke over Sanchez form for Man Utd

Alexis Sanchez is finally starting to show signs he can replicate his best Arsenal form at Manchester United – according to his former Gunners manager Arsene Wenger.

The Chilean has endured a turbulent time in his 10 months at Old Trafford after arriving in a swap deal for Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

Reports of the star’s demise and struggles at United have led to reports the club are looking to offload Sanchez – while the star’s reported £500,000 a week wages are also said to be causing United struggles in their efforts to tie down Anthony Martial and David De Gea to new deals.

But Sanchez appears to have turned a corner at United having started the last three matches more centrally in the absence of Romelu Lukaku – a fact our readers were keen to highlight – and Wenger believes the club may finally be starting to see what the Chilean is all about.

And the Frenchman, while admitting Sanchez has struggled, believes Jose Mourinho’s decision to take him out of the firing line a month ago has paid off.

“It is the question that he has raised with his performances,” Wenger said on BeIN Sport.

“I believe he has lost confidence.

“The strength of Alexis Sanchez is to take initiative, to dribble, to take people on.

“These kind of players are most vulnerable when they have no confidence anymore because their game is based on confidence and feeling free to take initiative.

“He has lost that slowly, even with the interruption of the season, since the start of the season he looks like he had a high level of energy that he has lost as well.

“Certainly, he is refreshed now because Mourinho left him out for a while and he has a good opportunity to get back to where he belongs, as a top player.”

Another Arsenal old boy, Ian Wright, also believes Sanchez has turned a major corner.

“I think he’s getting somewhere near what we know and I’d have been very disappointed being taken off after playing like that today,” he said after Saturday’s win over Bournemouth.

 

Fancy the best United news direct to your Facebook timeline? Like our dedicated Manchester Utd Facebook page.