Maybe they did or not. Liverpool believe they ‘really dodged a bullet’ in not signing Alexis Sanchez. Sanchez has struggled since joining Manchester United in January, scoring just three Premier League goals in 2018 – fewer than Chris Smalling and Patrick van Aanholt.
The Chilean – by far the club’s and league’s highest earner – will not play again this year due to a hamstring injury, and what Jose Mourinho termed a “painful scream” in training.
His struggles at Old Trafford have been detailed at length by Miguel Delaney of The Independent, who says ‘there were knowing glances’ from ‘a few figures at Arsenal’ when news of his most recent injury was made public.
Former Gunners manager Arsene Wenger ‘is said to have always been surprised’ that United pursued Sanchez so readily, and that he is not ‘worth the trouble’ unless he is played in a team suited perfectly to his style. United are not that team.
Delaney added that things are so bad for Sanchez in Manchester that ‘Juan Mata is said to have beaten him in sprints’ in training. Manchester City can count themselves lucky.
So too can Liverpool, who tried to sign the Chilean to replace Luis Suarez in summer 2014. The Reds were again loosely linked with Sanchez when his Arsenal exit became likely, but quickly turned him down due to his age and the form of their own forwards.
Tony Evans, football journalist and former Times editor, says ‘someone senior’ at Anfield said the club “really dodged a bullet” in not signing him.
Ban this hipster! Well, no… good piece on Sanchez. Overindulged by Wenger and never a team player. Some at Arsenal we’re delighted to see the back of him. He was never going to work in a Mourinho team. Someone senior at LFC told me: ‘We really dodged a bullet.’ https://t.co/oRyhxYBbtf
— Tony Evans (@TonyEvans92a) December 4, 2018