Manchester United should keep Alexis Sanchez after coronavirus pandemic, says Paul Merson

'United keeping hold of Alexis Sanchez and bringing him back into the fold would come as no surprise.'
PA

Former Arsenal man Paul Merson believes football's coronavirus shutdown may end up giving Alexis Sanchez a second chance at Manchester United.

The Chilean joined United as he was coming to the end of his Arsenal contract in January 2018 as part of a swap deal that saw Henrikh Mkhitaryan head in the opposite direction.

However, he never recaptured the form that he had shown when taking the Premier League by storm at the Emirates, and joined Inter Milan on loan last summer in a bid to reignite his career.

That move will come to an end at the end of the season and Merson believes that the financial impact of the current shutdown could create an opportunity for him to force his way back into Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s thinking.

“With what's currently going on, I can't see a team going out and spending £100m on a player anymore,” Merson told Sky Sports. “Teams are going to have to stick with what they've got so Manchester United keeping hold of Alexis Sanchez and bringing him back into the fold would come as no surprise.

Arsenal January transfer targets 2020

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“The clubs can't ask the government to pay the wages of their staff and then once this has passed, and hopefully it will, go and spend £60m, £70m and even £80m on players. That's taking the mick at the highest level!”

While it is the tightening of purse strings that might make sticking with Sanchez a reasonable option for United, Merson also believes that the pandemic may motivate the player to rediscover his best form.

He added: “After this, people are going to appreciate things a lot more now - and that includes some of the footballers who get bundles of money and think they can just stroll through.

"Sanchez was one of those players, but I think he will probably now think this life goes very quickly, especially a football career.

“Players might start to appreciate that more and he could come back, work hard and be a success because you can't go from being that good at Arsenal to be that bad at Manchester United, you just can't.”

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