The Chileam listens to all his many offers
It has become apparent that the favourites for the transfer are Barcelona, Manchester United and Manchester City but Italian sides Inter Milan and Juventus are also in the running. It is hard to second guess which team he prefers because quite frankly only he knows but here are the thoughts that shall no doubt be going through his head as he decides his future.
Barcelona
Well it is clear for everyone to see what the appeal of joining Barcelona would be. They are the current European champions and are currently in possession of the current world player of the year. At times the football they play is irresistible and at times they seem almost unbeatable. The amount of possession they control during each game is outstanding no matter who the opponent is. It is quite obvious that at Barcelona he will definitely get more touches of the ball.
The downside of him choosing Barcelona maybe whether he will be guaranteed first team football or not. Currently Barcelona possibly possesses the best players in the world in each position. Breaking into the side as a regular may be difficult even for someone of Alexis Sanchez’s talent. Could he be put into a similar position to that of Ibrahim Affelay? Currently Affelay has the choice of which seat to sit on the bench, often coming on only for the last 20 minutes when one of the first team players needs a rest.
Manchester City
I believe the reasons as to why he would choose Manchester City is obvious to all, even to the Manchester City fans! If he does decide to ply his trade at Eastlands he will most definitely not be joining them for the history and prestige of playing for such a club. In fact I very much doubt he would have heard of them whilst growing up as a teenager in Chile. Anyway you guessed it, it will most probably be for the money tabled to him.
It is thought that Manchester City’s bid to both Udinese and personal terms with the player will be the most financially rewarding. Could this be a big factor in his decision? With Carlos Tevez expected to have played his final game for Manchester City they are looking to replace him and I believe they feel that Sanchez is the man to do that. This is possibly why they have financially pulled out all the stops to sign Sanchez.
Inter Milan
Inter Milan are the bigger of the two Italian clubs that have tabled an offer for Alexis Sanchez. The 2010 European champions have also tried to do their utmost in signing the wonderkid. For the Inter Milan fans the signing of Sanchez seems very favourable. Inter Milan’s current squad is an ageing one, especially in the forward positions and so signing Sanchez would mark the start of a new invigorated Inter Milan team. Both star strikers Samuel Eto’o and Diego Milito are currently the wrong side of 30 being 30 and 32 respectively and are both expected to be replaced soon.
It seems this is the more attractive offer for El Niño Maravilla should he wish to stay in Italy as there is the lure of champions league football as well as playing with some of the world’s top players but with his agent suggesting that Alexis Sanchez favours a move abroad this seems highly unlikely.
Juventus
Juventus has been an underachieving team for quite a few seasons in the Serie A but their board intend to change this for the next season. Their new stadium is now complete and so now Juventus intend to spend massive amounts of money on improving the playing squad, a sum thought to eventually add up to around €100 million once the summer is over.
Alexis Sanchez is thought to be one of those who Juventus seem to extremely want and with the 4-4-2 system that Juventus play with 2 widemen he seems like a perfect addition to their squad. Having said this, a transfer to Juventus seems the least likeliest for Alexis Sanchez since Juventus failed to qualify for the champions league and so I’m quite sure staying at his current club Udinese who just qualified for the champions league this season would appeal to him more than a move to Juventus would.
Manchester United
Of course I saved the best for last! The bid reported to have been accepted by Udinese is at an outlay of around £30.5million. Manchester United’s recent history speaks for itself. We have won 4 premier league titles in the last 5 years and have also reached 3 European cup finals in that period. The level of football at Manchester United has been that of the highest quality for a very long time and there is almost a guarantee of trophies whilst playing for us and quite possibly a guarantee of regular first team football too.
Alexis Sanchez has been a long term target of Manchester United and it is common knowledge that Sir Alex Ferguson is a big admirer of the young Chilean international. Playing in the champions league for a team which regularly gets to the latter stages of the competition can only help him fulfil his full potential.
It is also long thought that Alexis Sanchez is a big Manchester United fan. He was quoted last summer on Chilean TV saying “Manchester United has been my dream all my life and they would be my first choice.” If that is still the case then maybe he will be a Manchester United player come the start of pre-season, who knows?
Are these reasons enough to choose us over the other 4 clubs? If Alexis Sanchez does choose Manchester United what could that mean for the rest of our transfer activity? Feel free to comment below.
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As good as Sanchez is i honestly dont think we should fall into the trap of choosing up and coming players. We need that with Nani and Andersen and with all due respect to them they havent been up to Man Utd’s ridiculously high standards. We need to sign established midfield players such as Sneijder, and please oh please make a SERIOUS attempt to buy Kaka Fergie!!!! A team with Sneijder and Kaka’s creativity and Hernandez’s goal scoring instinct would be a fantastic proposition!