United sign Alexis Sanchez

Sideshow Bob

Sideshow Bob

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Alexis Sanchez: “I am thrilled to be joining the biggest club in the world. I have spent three-and-a-half wonderful years at Arsenal and I bring with me very positive memories of that great club and its fans. The chance to play in this historic stadium and to work with Jose Mourinho was something I could not turn down. I am very proud to be the first Chilean player ever to play for United’s first team and I hope I can show our fans all around the world why the club wanted to bring me here.”

Mourinho: “Alexis is one of the best attacking players in the world and he will complete our very young and talented group of attacking players. He will bring his ambition, drive and personality, qualities that make a Manchester United player and a player that makes the team stronger and the supporters proud of their club dimension and prestige.
 
Very dramatic intro video indeed.

Fantastic world class signing. Can’t wait to see him in action, I think he definitely completes our attack. Martial, Sanchez and Lukaku is a pretty formidable attacking trio.

So £350k a week approximately. Not quite the £500k-600k a week.
 
With £100k image rights and £144k in bonuses they are saying it adds up to £600k a week. Staggering, silly, silly money but fair play to him.
 
Needless to say it's a fantastic signing. I know people are talking wages and money more then they ever had over any deal. But we have signed a genuine world class player today. Effective on a free. And those type of players demand world class high wages. Simple as that. We've got the money. We've saved on a fee. We've swapped for a player who wasn't making match day squads for us. It's amazing business from us.

I'd put Sanchez alongside De Gea and Pogba in the world class bracket except this guy is 29 and in his prime. Really excited and buzzing to see him in that shirt.
 
Red Warrior said:
With £100k image rights and £144k in bonuses they are saying it adds up to £600k a week. Staggering, silly, silly money but fair play to him.
Click to expand...

The image rights will be included in the salary numbers as that guaranteed money splitting them out would be crazy.

Bonuses will also be lump sums based on player/team success so it would be crazy to include them in his salary as no one else does that.

I think the figures reporting £350k are much much closer to the truth but the press love making the figures higher to cause outrage and headlines. So he’s either earning 10 or 20 nurses a week that’s the usual conversion haha.
 
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The best thing about this is that options that having a player like this can do to the team. You can go 4-3-3 with Rom, Martial and Sanchez. Or 4-2-3-1 with Sanchez either playing off that right again or playing though the middle as a second striker.

Either is fine with me. But I like the prospect of him playing in that 10 role as the guy running behind Rom and pressing from the front in a free role. But the guys got so much quality his not going to be out of place anywhere.

What's interesting is how this Jose side is developing and what he thinks we still need. If Sanchez plays through the middle then we still need a natural wide player on the right. If Sanchez plays off the right does he pick Ozil up or someone like that to play as his number 10? Also if we switch and play 4-3-3 we will need another centre mid as well. Someone who will allow Pogba to roam but have more energy then Matic.

So If we can get either a 10 or right winger, an energetic centre mid, and a right back to cover Tony, either in this window or more likely the summer we are going to have an amazing squad. Players will have to leave of course. But slowly but surely the blocks are moving into place.
 
Agree with you Max, another good aspect is if he say starts with Sanchez right and Lingard 10, he can always swap them around if its not working, so saves on using a sub straight away when they are both comfortable in either position.

I think after the summer, 433 will be his preferred away day formation against the big boys, I can see him going big in the summer for either Ozil/Dybala or if not of them then a right winger with pace to burn and move Sanchez inside.

Also, can see a huge CM coming in, talk obviously about Carrick retiring and Fellani going on a free, plus question marks over Herrera at the moment so your thinking he might need 3 CMs.

Vidal Free
Saul 60m/70m ish
Decent back up DMC for Matic

Personally would have TFM as back up to Valencia, think 2 MOTM performances in his last 3 games at RB, LB Young and Shaw, concentrate on that 10 or RW and CM in the summer for me, maybe a back up striker as Ibra will be gone.
 
Good shouts in there mate. I mean would Sanchez being here now make Vidal fancy it? They've effectively replaced him in goretzka already. I'd take Vidal in a heart beat.

The back up striker is another massive area for us. It's a similar situation to Harry Kane at Spurs. Whoever comes is going to be a back up to Rom. So do we go get someone? Or do we hope that Martial or Rashford step up to centre forward next season? Me personally I want to see 2 good players for every position so Rashford and Martial on the left is fine but go out and get a goal scoring bench player. It's what Chelsea are doing in Dzeko. I mean maybe I'm biased because I love him but 10 million buys chicharito. We all know what a quality back up option he is.
 
I wouldn't get back up, I'd go for Vardy, two decent players fighting for a spot. We once had Yorke, Cole, Sheringham and Ole for 2 spots.

I don't' think we will do that though so yeah, Chico, I'd take him back too.
 
Be interesting thats for sure, 31 Vidal but on a free not really much to think about, Saul or that Jorginho, Pereira maybe to fight for a No. 8 position when he returns, you have Sanchez Rashford Martial Lingard can all play in at least two potions in the front 4, a lot of versatility in there, interesting summer to see if he goes for a top class No 10 or a top class RW as Sanchez will obviously play one of them, depends whose available in the summer I guess.

Can see CM being our main focus this summer as we could potentially lose 3 so he will need at least two replacements if he is to give Pereira a crack next year.
 
We don't need a back up striker we have Rashford or Martial and Sanchez who can all play as the central striker if something happened to Lukaku.

In terms of where Sanchez plays my guess is he will start on the right of the front 3 but with plenty of freedom to go where he wants and we will now see our wide players swap sides in games.

The way I see it is Mourinho will play with 4 or 5 attacking players in games depending on the strength of the opponent Pogba, Lukaku & Sanchez will always be 3 of those positions so it will then be 1 or 2 of Rashford, Martial, Lingard & Mata to take the remaining spots. Those who don't get a starting spot will be on the bench and will likely be coming off the bench as required so everyone will still get plenty of playing time.

In terms of the summer my guess is Mata will leave along with Zlatan (I really don't see where he fits in this season) who may even be going in March if the MLS rumours are true, heck he could even retire and become a coach if he feels he can't get back to where he wants to be physically.

My guess is the summer focus will be on midfielders and full backs.
 
Yeah I think CM will be the main area of focus, world class 10/rw then a couple of CM's, seen before on M.E.N possible targets for CM are Seri from Nice, Solar from Valencia, Fred from Shaktar.

Mata could be used if he wants to sign that Solar from Valencia, interesting times anyhow, yeah agree we should have enough cover for Lukaku if anything happens or he needs a rest.

Full backs will be interesting, I think were pretty comfortable there going into next season but see what he does.
 
I think he does want or will want another striker or he wouldn't have dealt in Zlatan. Rashford and Martial just haven't cut the mustard centrally.

as for the middle of the park, my dream would be Kroos and if Madrid are doing a massive overhaul he is a way for them to bring in money.

This is going to be cause a bit of friction on here, but for me, we can't keep Martial and Rashford. A decision will need to made there at some point.
 
We have 6 forward type players with 4 starting positions. I think it's an absolute no brainer we gotta keep Martial and Rash. Only time I would see either of them go is for a direct replacement who can maybe be more versatile like Sanchez who can play anywhere across the front 4. @jsp mentioned this earlier. If anyone will be going I think it will be Mata.

If it was me I'd be breaking the bank for Ozil and a class CM in the summer.

Shaw still has to the end of the year to cement his place. If he nails it all well and good, if not we'lll be looking for a LB and we possibly need a RB too with Valencia knocking on now.
 
If you play Sanchez on the right, it's a waste for me. Yes he can play there but he is better in the middle and he prefers the left.

Martial and Rashford can't play centrally, so in my head I have Martial, Rashford and Sanchez playing for the left spot. I am talking long term here, with new signings.

To get the best out of Pogba we need to play 433. So we need a CM and a right sided player.

Mata is gone.

I can't see us, in the long term, hanging on to both. Unless one of them ups their game and can push Lukaku.
 
I can see him playing Sanchez on the right for now, don't forget Valencia offers a lot of width down that side so he can come inside and get involved, ppl seem obsessed with this "inside forward and can only play on the right if he is left footed" biggest load of balls ever!

10 years ago it was unheard of that a left footer can play on the right, now it's the other way around, thing with Sanchez on the right, he can go outside or inside, if he comes inside, can he not use his right foot to drill the ball across the keeper? winds me up that you have to be a certain type to play that role, I remember him scoring bagfuls for Barca at the far post on the right.

Depending how he does this season, I can maybe see him moving into a 10 as a second striker and us buying a top right winger, but if he does go for Ozil, I'm sure Sanchez will do just fine down the right.

If Martial or Rashford get sold there will be absolute uproar.
 
I'm saying he wont play right, not because of what foot he prefers, but because he has pretty much said he doesn't like playing there.

There must have been a discussion about where he will play when we spoke to him. Yes He will fill a hole out right, but I don't see it long term.

Personally I don't see the point in signing a player who is so good on the left and not playing him there. Yes we have Martial and Rashford, but they aren't as good as Sanchez. I agree I can see him going central though and Lingard losing out or playing right.

I still see that as problem for Pogba though. We've got to play 433 for him or he's too deep.
 
If you watch his whole interviews he says he likes to play left and centre but can play anywhere across the three, he spent 3 years if not longer playing as a right winger so it's not as if it is unknown to him.

Against the smaller clubs, Matic sits and Pogba just roams, which you can see by his 9 assists in 13 games, so as far as him sitting to back deep I don't think that will be an issue for him in most games as Matic releases him.

Against the big boys and away from home, I can see us playing a three in midfield, Matic at the minute, Herrera and Pogba more advance, hence why we need a world class CM to play with Pogba and Matic, Sanchez right, Marital left, Lukaku up top.

If he plays Sanchez on the left and drops Martial and Rashford, it will be the worst business done in years as will make zero sense.
 
I just look forward to the football the game we drop Lukaku and have

Martial Rashford Sanchez as a front 3.
 
Not long to wait until we find out just how he will be used because it will be strongest side available away at Spurs next week.
 
Taking sentiment aside

I have never seen how Rashford and Martial can play in the same side, unless one of them can adapt to the central/Lukaku role.

With Sanchez I see it as an additional problem. I just don't see the point in buying him and playing him right. Yes he can play there but he is more dangerous central/left. I can see him doing it this season. But not next. He's going to get more goals from the left/centre.

Just like Pogba. We need to play our players in their best and most dangerous positions. For too long we have played players in roles where they can do a job. But we need to stop that and play them in their strongest position. And if players aren't good enough to fight for a spot then you need to be ruthless and move them on and get players who can.

Sorry, I know that sounds sh**ty but I just this as the way forward.
 
I agree that I hate seeing players played out of position, I think we have 5 months to see how he gets on down the right as I think that is where he will be played for the remainder of the season.

I would have no issue with him playing as a second striker with a top world class RW coming in this summer, that will do me.
 
The way I see it is Rashford's future at the club has to be as a centre forward he's learning bits out on the wing and getting experience but he needs regular run outs at centre forward with the first team even the odd game in the U23's just to keep his focus on that.

He should really be viewed as the number 2 striker behind Lukaku who can also play on the wing.

I don't think Jose wants Martial/Rashford in the same team as they're kids and they're not consistent that will come in a year or twos time so he'd rather have a guy like Sanchez taking the pressure off them and letting them learn from him in training and on the pitch.
 
I think Sanchez will come into his own when he runs in behind Rom and stretches sides. What Lingard has done so well lately is move off of Lukaku and create space for himself and others. Taking nothing away from Lingard but Sanchez will do that and produce a final outcome more often then Lingard does. I say that not harshly because Lingard has been in great form lately, but Alexis is just a level up on him.

I still think that it's worth getting someone like Hernandez in just to be a back up 15 mins to go striker. Especially for the cheap price his being offered at. I don't think it would effect Rashford massively simply because his still so young and learning all the time. His got years and years ahead of him to be that number 9. Playing with these players day in day out isn't going to hurt him, and his mini rivalry with Martial is massively improving his overall game. I'd just feel more safe if with 10 mins to go against a team that parks the bus you have a fox in the box like Hernandez ready and waiting in the wings.
 
All great points by everyone.

I'm tending to agree with the common theme that Sanchez is at his very best from the left and we have 2 options there already in Martial and Rashford, who are actually CF's and neither of them can play from the right. Would it be a possibility that come summer, Sanchez will go left, 1 of Martial or Rashford will be sold on with a top class RM being bought in? I think if we are to keep either or both of them they should be played in their favoured positions at CF and with Lukaku there, they will only be back up. At best keep Martial for backup LM, play Rash at backup CF and we're back to needing a top class RM.

Its madness, we go and buy a world class player that only gives us more headaches than we had in the first place.
 
Thing is I don't think there are to many in world football, at the age Martial is now, who quite have his potential and ability, I don't think he would stick around playing second fiddle and we can't afford to lose him to a rival, be it domestically or European.

My guess would be that come the summer, our first choice attack will be Martial Sanchez as a 10 and a world class RW. If he does play 433 in the big games then he will have a choice to make regarding who plays and if Lukaku doesn't buck up, he could be looking over his shoulder.
 
Martial is another situation really. He's so much better this season but is still a bit inconsistent but at 22 you can let that go a bit. Come 24/25 I'd imagine he could be absolute class so he is worth keeping hold of.
Keep saying it but I'd do everything possible to get Ozil in at No.10. If we can play Sanchez RM there is no reason he cant be banging in the goals from there like he does from LM, we can then keep Tony on the left. The big problem comes if Sanchez plays better on the left.

Martial-Ozil-Sanchez
Lukaku

or
Pogba-Matic-New CM
Martial-Lukaku-Sanchez

Just makes so much sense with what we have already to keep Sanchez RM otherwise it causes headaches with other players.
 
Yeah mate, it goes back to the modern day argument as apparently wingers didn't exist back in the day when a left footer played on the left lol he has shown that he can do a job there for Udinese and Barca, he will have licence to come inside im sure it won't be that much of a headache to play wide right
 
It is a tricky one, which is why I mooted the Martial Rashford problem.

To be a top class side pushing on every front, I cant see anything than Sanchez left or centre. If we play 433 then that's goodbye to first team football Martial or Lukaku.

Rashford could play right sided I suppose.

To be honest, I don't think Rashford is quite ready yet. But yes, the Sanchez purchase is another headache and not solving our problem. But whether he plays on the left or centre he improves us massively.

Someone at top needs to be sold to bring in a very good right sided player. I have been saying Rashford or Martial, but maybe that player is Lukaku. But he's done well this season. I don't see either of those getting his numbers.

It's time to make up minds on where Rashford and Martials best position is.

If we don't play 433 then we stop all of Pogba's potential. or we play 3 5 2. He might do ok in that. But then Martial and Rashford are on the bench again.

It's interesting to see what's going to happen. I hope both Martial and Rashford stay because I really like them both. But it will be hard.

It's a good problem to have.
 
I don't like saying it but I don't think Mourinho trusts Martial he's an amazing talent but he doesn't work particularly hard and sometimes he goes missing, Neville & Carragher both said it on Monday night football after the Stoke game he need to go that extra 5-10% to take him from the talented youngster to being the real top talent who guarantees you 20+ a season from the wing like Sanchez does.

I think Sanchez might have come in to show Martial/Rashford the standard that is required when they see how hard that guy works it might help the penny drop with them that to be a £300k a week footballer you need to demand perfection from yourself as well as others.

The more I think about it the more convinced I am that Sanchez will go on the left of the front 3 or 4 which leaves the youngsters scrapping for games on the right. You put your best players in their best positions as they're the difference makers you use the other guys to plug gaps.

That's not to say it's curtains for these two boys but they may need to accept a back seat to Sanchez over the next 2 years to work on their game to get to his level because that's the standard that Utd want and if you want to be in our first team you need to be at that standard. The "potential" talent argument will only get you so far it gets you a chance in the team but very quickly you need to drop that "potential" tag and start delivering because Utd can't keep waiting for talent to develop otherwise you end up like Arsenal we need a team that is ready to go toe to toe with City next season and that means we need a team that can put 90+ points on the board in 38 games.
 

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