UK Edition
Jose Mourinho hails 'cheap' signing Alexis Sanchez and forward's 'very good quality' shinpads
Jose Mourinho has insisted that Alexis Sanchez should be considered a free transfer after the Chile international, who made his debut for Manchester United in the 4-0 FA Cup fourth-round win over Yeovil Town on Friday night, became the Premier League’s highest paid player.
Speaking after the win at Huish Park, in which Sanchez contributed two assists, Mourinho said that Sanchez, on wages of around £600,000-a-week including bonuses, should be regarded as a free transfer given that there was no fee in his swap with Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
Asked about the Chilean he said: “He was cheap wasn’t he? Free transfer! He was free. So for that price he’s fantastic. I think everybody thinks the same in this country. Everyone has to agree that he is a fantastic player and the team that got him has a plus. We have a good group of attacking players you could see today we played with three of them, [Jesse] Lingard was on the bench, [Romelu] Lukaku was on the bench, Zlatan [Ibrahimovic] at home, [Anthony] Martial at home. So we have a good group. His [Sanchez] quality is a plus and his experience is another plus.”
The United manager said it was right that Arsenal took responsibility for Sanchez technically missing a drugs test when he was absent when testers visited his former club’s training ground on Monday. As Telegraph Sport has reported, he and Arsenal could face a "strike" against them with two more within 12 months leading to sanctions.
Mourinho said: “I think Arsenal were very honest in the way they approached the situation. We all know we must tell the whereabouts of our players where they are 24 hours per day [clubs have to tell testers if players miss training and the players must give their location for one hour every day]. But I think everyone understands that no-one knew where he was going to be, where he was going to train, where he was going to sleep. It was just a period of transfer so I think it is easily understandable and that was no-one’s mistake and just a consequence of the moment.”
On Sanchez’s performance he said: “I was very pleased with Alexis and very pleased with his shin pads. The shin pads showed they were very good quality. I was very pleased with him and his attitude. It is not a surprise for me or anyone in this country that follows football because he has had three years here showing his quality.
“He wanted to play and he needed to play, he didn’t play for Arsenal in the last two or three matches. His training was also difficult as he didn’t know where he would be today or tomorrow, he is not training here or there, so he needed to train like he did in the last two or three years and he needed minutes on the pitch for his condition to come back.
“He has great quality and scores goals, makes assists, has a good attitude when the team loses the ball, he’s good at set pieces. I think really he is one of the best attacking players in the world.”
Michael Carrick played only his second game in this his last season after a procedure to correct an irregular heart rhythm. Mourinho said: “It was one of the first things I said in the dressing room after the match, that I am going to have a very good assistant coach and football is going to lose a fantastic player. He is fantastic and does everything well.”