Mourinho claims ex-Man Utd star ‘was not happy’ in England
Jose Mourinho has suggested that former Arsenal and Man Utd star Alexis Sanchez “was not happy” during his time playing in the Premier League.
The 33-year-old spent five years in the Premier League between 2014 and 2019. He enjoyed a successful few years at Arsenal as he scored 80 goals from his 166 outings.
During the January transfer window in 2018, Sanchez signed for Man Utd as part of a swap deal with Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
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The attacker’s move to Old Trafford did not go to plan as his form declined before he left in 2019. He has spent the last three years with Inter Milan.
Sanchez was signed by Mourinho and they are both now in Serie A with Milan and Roma.
The former Man Utd and Arsenal star scored as Inter Milan beat Roma 2-0 in the quarter-final of the Coppa Italia on Tuesday.
Mourinho has now suggested that his former player was not happy in England:
“I spoke with him [Sanchez] at the start of the match,” Mourinho said (via The Daily Mail).
“In England he was not happy, it was not his natural habitat, it is here.”
Speaking in 2019, Mourinho claimed that Sanchez was a ‘sad man’ while he played for Manchester United:
“Sanchez… I felt him [to be] not a happy man,” he told The Telegraph.
“And I think in every job you have when you are not happy it is not so easy to perform at every level. And maybe I am wrong. Maybe it was me who was not capable to get into him and to get the best out of him.
“As a manager sometimes you have the capacity to get the best out of the players and other times you are not successful in that approach.
“But the reality is that I always felt [of Sanchez], ‘a sad man’. So probably in Italy he will recover this. I hope he can. I always wish well to every player.”
Elsewhere, Man Utd dropped points against Burnley on Tuesday night at Turf Moor. The Red Devils were in front at the break thanks to Paul Pogba’s goal.
They also had two goals chalked off before half time. Burnley did not have a shot in the first half but Jay Rodrguez equalised for Sean Dyche’s side in the 47th minute.
Man Utd are back in action on Saturday afternoon as they host Southampton at Old Trafford.
