Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer appears to have aimed a dig at Alexis Sanchez ahead of his side’s Premier League showdown with Aston Villa on New Year’s Day. The Chile international was sold to Inter Milan back in the summer transfer window of 2019. And Sanchez criticised the club earlier this year.
Speaking in September on Instagram, in a post he’s since deleted, the £400,000-a-week flop admitted he wanted to leave United after just ONE day.
“I want to tell you about my period at United, about many things that were said and that made me look bad,” he said.
“I got the opportunity to go to United and it seemed tempting to me. It was something nice for me, because, when I was a kid, I liked that club a lot.
“I ended up signing without much information about what was happening in the move. The first days that I was with my colleagues, sometimes there are things that you do not realise until you arrive.
“The first training I had I realised many things. I came home and I told my representative: ‘Can’t the contract be terminated to return to Arsenal?’ They start laughing and I told them that something did not sit right with me. It [the contract] had already been signed.”
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“They don’t play every single game, but they’re so influential in the group, the build-up to games and during games when they’re not playing.”
Solskjaer’s side are flying at present, sitting second in the table behind only Liverpool.
And the Norwegian feels he has a strong squad at his disposal, saying: “We have a strong squad and have rotated a lot.
“We’ve not really called it a settled eleven, because I don’t think this season is going to be about that anyway.
“It’s going to be about the squad. It’s going to be about the 25 players.
“I think towards the end of the season, that will help us. It has to be done this way.
“When you leave Scott McTominay and Fred out, it’s not easy, because they deserve to play every game, but Nemanja and Paul Pogba played so well against Everton.
“Injuries and suspensions will happen, so I think our squad is well capable of being ready for every game.”
United have won seven of their last nine matches in the top flight.
And they’ll be hoping to put Villa to the sword, who enter the match in good form of their own following a 1-1 draw with Chelsea last time out.