Revealed: Why former Man United flop asked agent to ‘rip up’ his £350,000-a-week contract after just ONE training session

Manchester United have signed some incredibly successful players during the Premier League era.

For example, Roy Keane for £3.75 million in 1993, Cristiano Ronaldo for around £12 million in 2003 and Wayne Rooney for less than £30 million a year later were all undoubtedly excellent signings.

However, United has also had a number of failures.

Former Arsenal superstar Alexis Sanchez, who arrived as part of a swap deal that saw Henrikh Mkhitaryan move to the Emirates Stadium, is likely to fall into that category.

Sanchez moved to Old Trafford in January 2018 after scoring 60 Premier League goals in 122 Premier League games for rivals Arsenal.

Alexis Sanchez (left, leaning forward) poses for a team photo ahead of a UEFA Champions League match between Manchester United and Valencia in March 2018.

Sanchez signed a four-and-a-half year contract when he joined United but left after 18 months

However, the Chilean scored just three times in 32 league games for United before leaving for Internazionale in August 2019.

Sanchez was paid a basic salary of £350,000-a-week by United, plus image rights and bonuses.

Despite earning significantly more at United than Arsenal, Sanchez has previously indicated he wanted to return to the Gunners after just one training session in Manchester.

He blamed the lack of unity within United’s squad under then manager José Mourinho and said he was unimpressed with ‘what was happening within the club’.

Sanchez, who was linked with a move to United’s biggest rivals shortly before his arrival at Old Trafford, told all in a video he posted to Instagram in 2020.

Manager Jose Mourinho (right) was in charge of United when Sanchez moved to Old Trafford

Mourinho is seen here during a United training session at the club’s Carrington base in 2018

In the video, Sanchez explains: ‘I used to have an agreement with Man City, but because of football problems I accepted the opportunity to go to United. It felt tempting and it was something good for me. I liked this club a lot when I was a kid.

‘In the end I signed, but I didn’t ask for information about what was going on within the club.

‘Sometimes there are things you don’t realise until you’re there. I can still remember the first training session, I realised a lot of things then.

‘After the session I came home and said to my family and my agent: “Can’t you tear up the contract and go back to Arsenal?” They laughed. I told them something wasn’t right, that it didn’t feel right.

‘But I had already signed, I was already there. After the first few months I kept having the same feeling, we were not united as a team at that time.’

Sanchez won the FA Cup twice with Arsenal and won six trophies with Barcelona before that.

Sanchez scored 60 goals in 122 games for Arsenal, but he fared less well at United

He didn’t win a single trophy with United but has since won five titles with Inter, including two Serie A titles.

Sanchez joined Udinese last month, signing a two-year contract that expires six months after his 37th birthday.