Sanchez signing can boost Man United and offer him a platform for success
Manchester United at Burnley on Saturday. To do so, he'd have to complete his
transfer from Arsenal by noon in the UK on Friday -- and the club's fax
machine would have to be in working order.
Fans appear almost unanimous that this would be a positive signing. Sanchez
is fast, strong, versatile and will boost a squad with some deficiencies. United
chased him as long ago as 2011 and were prepared to make him the club's
most expensive player. Back then, Barcelona and Manchester City also wanted
him; Sanchez's order of preference was Barca, where he ended up, followed by
United, then City.
He's finally set to arrive at Old Trafford and the deal is right, not only because
the transfer fee is so small for a top-level player or that it prevents City getting
one of their transfer targets. It's about the first time United have landed a blow
on their cross-town rivals this season, though revision and distortion means the
truth will be corrupted; football often does two or more versions of what is real.
Sanchez's reported wages and associated costs are huge and bear no relation
to the reality that most people know. If they did, and ticket prices increased by
30 percent, then it would be an issue to fans, but barring Sevilla's Champions
League policy, ticket prices have stopped going up even as football's wages
have spiralled.
Player wages have long been eye watering. For example, my uncle Charlie, who
played 162 times for United, accepted £100 a week to play in Colombia in 1950;
he was on £11 a week at Old Trafford. The first person he told was legendary
manager Sir Matt Busby, who responded: "Do they want a manager as well?"
Forty-one years later, Busby stepped down from United's board in protest at the
£1.5 million fee -- a British record -- that was paid to West Brom for Bryan
Robson. Three years later, the club was receiving offers of £3m for their
captain.
Robson was pretty much the first United player to afford to buy one of the best
houses on the best streets in South Manchester; it took 100 years of football to
get to that point. Even in the 1960s, when United were European champions,
most players lived in areas that would be described as more working- than
middle-class.
Now, there are scores of houses across Cheshire, which are largely obtainable
only by the many top-flight footballers who live within 20 minutes of
Manchester Airport. If they move, they simply sell them or, if they fail to buy a
buyer, rent them to another footballer. It's a market within a market.
Hopes are high for Sanchez. He's a fully-formed star, who was exceptional at
Udinese, good at Barcelona -- a ludicrous chip in El Clasico was his highlight --
and one of the Arsenal's best. Let's call him a Robin van Persie-class player,
one who gets frustrated when they realise they're at a club that isn't going to
win the league.
But there should also be some caution. After all, Angel Di Maria was one of the
best players in the world when he joined United in 2014 and he left after one
season. Sanchez is familiar with the Premier League but, amid the excitement
that such transfers bring, signing players is not an exact science, as United
have found many times.
Sanchez would be the second Chilean to move to Old Trafford -- his fellow
countryman Angelo Jose Henriquez failed to make a first-team appearance after
signing in 2012 - and the latest in a growing list of South Americans. The first
was Juan Sebastian Veron, a hugely-talented Argentinian midfielder who arrived
in 2001, four years after Sir Alex Ferguson failed to land another Chile
international forward, Marcelo Salas.
Fans were delighted and shirts bearing Veron's name outsold those of another
new signing, Ruud van Nisetlerooy, by 3:1. However, he left with regrets after
two seasons. United smashed their pay structure to sign Veron and the £80,000
per week figure haunts former chairman Martin Edwards to this day.
Language has been an issue for some, not that speaking only a little English
has done Antonio Valencia -- United's best-ever South American player and
current captain -- any harm. On the flip side, Diego Forlan spoke flawless
English when he joined in 2002, but wasn't quite so accomplished in front of
goal.
As it would for anyone moving to a new city, it can take time to get used to life
in Manchester, though adjusting is easier than in the past. Brazilian World Cup-
winner Kleberson joined United in 2003 and, as well as having problems with
food -- he once told me in an interview that he had to drive to London to get
the correct beans and rice -- admitted that living in a new country with a
pregnant, teenage wife wasn't easy. That baby, Klebinho, remains proud of the
Manchester birthplace on his passport.
Among United's current squad, Argentineans Marcos Rojo and Sergio Romero
will be on hand to welcome Sanchez, against whom they have played many
times at club level and in South American World Cup qualifying. And there are
plenty of other Spanish speakers at United, including Jose Mourinho.
Sanchez can make a difference at Old Trafford and has what it takes to become
the best attacking player at one of the biggest clubs in the world. The stage is
set for him and that's why this transfer is so appealing.
United are also bigger in Chile than any other English club, one reason why they
have an official wine partner from the country, for which Wayne Rooney once
infamously provided a spot of wooden acting as part of an advert. Perhaps
Sanchez can also assume -- and elevate -- that role.
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