Manchester United

Alan Shearer slams Alexis Sanchez for 'going missing' since joining

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 19 March 2018

Alan Shearer jokes that Manchester United signed Alexis Sanchez's "twin brother" from Arsenal, as the Chilean forward has so far failed to impress at Old Trafford.

Alan Shearer has accused Alexis Sanchez of failing to justify his valuation since arriving at Manchester United from Arsenal two months ago.

The Chile international joined the Red Devils as part of a swap deal that saw fellow attacker Henrikh Mkhitaryan head the opposite way, lured to Old Trafford by the offer of reported wages in excess of £500,000 a week.

Sanchez has so far netted just one goal in his 10 appearances, however, and failed to register a single assist in that time.

Following arguably his most underwhelming display of the campaign so far, coming in the 2-1 home defeat to Sevilla last week, Shearer has joked that United may have signed an impostor, while also taking a swipe at boss Jose Mourinho.

"They signed Alexis Sanchez and it looks like they have got his twin brother," he wrote in his column for Coral. "He looks like the little boy the lost. It is the coach's job to get the best out of the players.

"When you look at the players they had on the pitch against Sevilla, the likes of [Romelu] Lukaku, Sanchez and [Marcus] Rashford, they had enough quality on the pitch and they should have been able to get the win in front of their home supporters.

"United knew what they were getting when they signed Mourinho, a man who has an arrogance about him but delivers trophies. It might not be pretty at times but he gets you trophies just like he did last season. Having said all that, the football they have been playing has not been entertaining at all."

Sanchez was an unused sub in United's last outing - a 2-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion in the FA Cup.