Alexis Sanchez will be the first name on Jose Mourinho’s teamsheet. Manchester United haven’t made the Chilean superstar their highest-paid player on £350,000 a week for him to warm the bench.
It begs the question where Sanchez will fit into the United XI and which of his team-mates will miss out to make way for the 29-year-old.
Sportsmail looks at the various options open to Mourinho.
Alexis Sanchez poses with a football shortly after penning a deal with Manchester United
OPTION ONE: WIDE ON THE LEFT
This is the role Sanchez played a lot of the time with Barcelona and Arsenal and one that he likes. He can cut in onto his favoured right foot and get goals but he’s not burdened with the main responsibility for scoring and can also get involved in build-up play.
His first interview as a Manchester United player was instructive. ‘I really like to play down the left, through the middle, but to tell you the truth, as long as I’m playing football, I’ll fit in anywhere.’ The left was his first answer.
His workrate also means whichever right back or wing back United are facing will find it very hard to have an attacking impact which is important in the modern game. Having Sanchez on the left will have pluses and minuses for Mourinho.
The United manager doesn’t like playing Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial together — he believes they are too similar — so having Sanchez on the left will give him licence to play Rashford, one of the great young talents in English football whose game time at United has been restricted this season.
But leaving out Martial won’t be easy. The 22-year-old Frenchman has been in fine form this season though his ability to press is not on a par with Sanchez. Martial scored United’s winner at Burnley on Saturday, his 11th goal of the season and third in four games.
Jose Mourinho is unlikely to leave Anthony Martial out after his recent fine performances
OPTION TWO: NUMBER 10
Sanchez has the trickery and subtlety to supply the bullets for Romelu Lukaku and the tenacity and energy to defend from the front when United don’t have the ball.
Though he’ll wear the famed No 7 shirt at Old Trafford, performing the glamorous No 10 role will have a particular attraction for Sanchez who spent his time at Barcelona overshadowed by Lionel Messi who was their chief playmaker. In the centre, Sanchez would be continually involved and get on the ball as much as possible, something that is tempting to Mourinho given the financial outlay.
Playing Sanchez centrally would also disrupt United as little as possible. They’ve lost only three league matches this season and the two wide players Jesse Lingard and Martial have worked well in tandem. Juan Mata would be the player to miss out if Sanchez played behind Lukaku.
The Spaniard is a very popular figure at the club but on the pitch has never quite justified the £38m he cost from Chelsea, whilst performing very well in some matches. Mata has scored 39 goals in 171 appearances for United. Sanchez’s strike rate is likely to be significantly higher.
Manchester United playmaker Juan Mata could be the man to miss out after Sanchez’s arrival
OPTION THREE: TWIN STRIKERS
Despite lying second in the Premier League table, Mourinho has still faced criticism for negative football this season. Even if it’s justified to park the bus at Liverpool, United fans expect more adventure against lesser sides.
United have impressively kept five clean sheets in a row but have scored only eight goals in that time against Southampton, Stoke, Everton, Derby and Burnley. Not terrible but not great set alongside what Pep Guardiola is doing at Manchester City.
Therefore pairing Sanchez with Lukaku as twin strikers will have its attraction in certain games where United can expect to control the game. Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic will be tasked with dominating midfield and Sanchez and Lukaku can prioritise finishing off chances.
It’ll be interesting to see how Lukaku would respond to having a front partner. The £75m striker has been criticised this season despite scoring a respectable 17 goals. It’s been tough for him though when isolated from his team-mates.
Marcus Rashford has played in every Premier League game under Mourinho this season
OPTION FOUR: LONE STRIKER
Lukaku has already played 36 times this season for club and country. ‘The boy is tired. He is physically a monster but he is not a machine,’ Mourinho has complained, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic sidelined nearly all of this season with a knee injury.
There is no doubt Sanchez can play as a centre forward, or a false nine, in the way Roberto Firmino does for Liverpool. At Arsenal, Arsene Wenger often preferred him to specialist strikers like Olivier Giroud and Sanchez scored 30 goals last season – only Harry Kane and Lukaku got more than his 24 in the Premier League.
‘I like him to play through the middle because he makes good runs,’ said Wenger. ‘And he’s a good finisher.’
When Lukaku needs a rest, Sanchez would be a natural replacement. But what is also interesting is whether Sanchez’s superior technique and workrate compared to Lukaku means he will get the nod as a lone front man in certain big matches, in the Champions League or the Manchester derby at the Etihad in April for example.
Romelu Lukaku has led the line for Manchester United this season but needs a rest
OPTION FIVE: BACK ON THE RIGHT
Sanchez is right-footed and when he first came to Europe as a 17-year-old flyer for Udinese, it was as a right winger.
Ironically, United’s first reported interest in the player came back in 2010 when he’d already done well in Serie A and Sir Alex Ferguson thought he might be a replacement for Cristiano Ronaldo, who had played off that flank for United.
The Chilean’s career has gone another way and he prefers to cut inside from the left rather than hug the touchline but it will be another option for Mourinho. The big advantage of playing Sanchez on the right is it means he can accommodate Martial who has become an important part of United’s current eight-match unbeaten run in the Premier League.
Jesse Lingard shakes hands with Mourinho after being substituted against Burnley