SAN DOWN Man Utd arrange secret friendlies in bid to get Alexis Sanchez fit in case Solskjaer can’t flog £505k-a-week flop

ALEXIS SANCHEZ must play more games behind closed doors to prove he can be part of the new Manchester United.

Posted Saturday, August 17, 2019 by Thesun.co.uk

Sanchez is behind the rest of the players in terms of fitness having joined up with them after taking part in the Copa America with Chile.

SAN DOWN Man Utd arrange secret friendlies in bid to get Alexis Sanchez fit in case Solskjaer can’t flog £505k-a-week flop
Alexis Sanchez has played in a behind-closed-doors friendly in bid to gain fitness Credit: Zenpix

Solskjaer publicly stated there is a place for Sanchez at Man Utd.. but remains desperate to get rid of the Chilean Credit: Getty

He suffered a hamstring injury in his final game of the competition which also set him back.

SunSport revealed this week that Sanchez, 30, is facing exile, with United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer trusting a new young team with an average age of 24.

Publicly, Solskjaer insists Sanchez can be part of it but has to prove himself with arranged games at Carrington and extra training.

He has played in one already against Blackburn.

Solskjaer said: “We’ve had a behind-closed-doors game, he’s training, a little bit of extras.

"He’ll be gradually integrated into more playing time but we’ll have more behind closed doors.”

Any offer from abroad to take on him and his £505,000 wage packet would still be welcomed by the club — even if, outwardly, Solskjaer says the door is open.

'HE'S QUALITY'

He said: “We don’t have the biggest forward line in numbers so Alexis might end up playing a lot more games than you expect.

"We expect him to come good at this club, he’s quality.”

Yet the way the likes of Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial played in the 4-0 win over Chelsea, made it is difficult to see a way back in for him.

He certainly will not be part of the squad for Monday’s trip to Molineux, a ground which does not have happy memories for Solskjaer from last season.

Two defeats in the space of three games there saw the wheels start to come off.

The team lost energy and the will as they slumped to sixth place, went out of Europe and finished the season trophyless.

However, Solskjaer says things are very different now.

He said: “Towards the end of last season we were mentally tired, now we are mentally fresh.

"Our fitness is better and we’ve got a young team that will give us energy.

Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford, here sandwiched by Jesse Lingard, are now the favoured front two for Man Utd Credit: Reuters

"The last two visits to play Wolves were tough games. They are a hard team to break down.

"They defend deep, don’t give you a lot of spaces, counter attack and their set-pieces are always dangerous.

"But our form, our attitude and the mood after the win is great so we go into the game confident.”
That win was the 4-0 triumph over Chelsea last Sunday.

The stats from it convinced Solskjaer that all the pre-season work on fitness will pay off.

He said: “There’s been a big shift. Chelsea outran us quite a lot in April, now we’ve outrun them. But it’s not just about fitness, we also have quality.”

That point is not lost on Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo, who will not allow last season’s wins over United — or Thursday’s Europa League demolition of FC Pyunik — to breed complacency.

He said: “What we did in the past doesn’t count at all.

"The players know they’re going to face a very tough opponent, a fantastic club, a fantastic squad with fantastic players and talent all over the place.”

Nuno reckons his players could also do with extra help from fans.

He said: “There were 30,000 Wolves fans here for the Pyunik tie yet we expect more on Monday. Those missing, come and help!”