Jose Mourinho confirms Alexis Sanchez suffered 'aggressive' hamstring injury that could rule him out until January
Alexis Sanchez’s woes at Manchester United have taken another turn for the worse with the Chile striker ruled out for around six weeks with a hamstring tear.
Sanchez let out what manager Jose Mourinho described as a “painful scream” after pulling up in training on Thursday.
The former Arsenal player is due to be scanned on Friday, when United will discover the full extent of the injury, but Mourinho believes Sanchez will be out for about six weeks with the grade of tear more severe than the one suffered by defender Victor Lindelof.
Mourinho expects Lindelof - who suffered his injury at the end of United’s 0-0 draw against Crystal Palace last weekend - to be out for around three weeks.
Such a lengthy lay-off would rule Sanchez out of United’s next 10 matches, including Saturday’s trip to Southampton, next Wednesday’s game against former club Arsenal, and the visit to Liverpool on Dec. 16.
It is the latest setback to affect Sanchez, who was dropped from United’s squad for Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Young Boys in the Champions League and is said to be looking for an exit route from Old Trafford amid his worsening struggles.
“There have been no scans yet but the player is experienced, the player knows what the injury is and also from the top of my experience, just the painful scream and the way the injury happened, I know it’s going to be for a long time.
“It is not the little muscular injury that in one week or 10 days the player is ready. It is, for me and also for Alexis, the feelings before the scans is that the grade [of tear] is different than the Lindelof one and the Lindelof one was not an easy one so Alexis has what I used to call an aggressive muscular injury. He has an important injury. From the top of my experience he is not playing this year.”
Mourinho admitted the draw against Palace had intensified the need for points but said he was “confused” about why his team begin games so sluggishly when much of the work they do in training is focused on starting matches with intensity and urgency.
Asked about why his team are so inconsistent, Mourinho said: “It depends. I feel that in some matches the way we start is not that intense, emotional, the aggressive way where I would like the team to start.
“Other times, like for example against Young Boys, we had that start where I imagine what the game could be after 10 minutes if the scoreline was 2-0.
“We don’t score from the chances that we have and the chances in this case - goals have a huge impact in the way the game goes. Obviously Young Boys wouldn't defend the way they did if, after 10 minutes, they are losing 2-0.
“So sometimes it is because of efficiency, other times it is because of the way we approach the game, and obviously it gives me a little bit of confusion because all the work is based on strong starts and being intense and aggressive since the beginning [of matches].”
Meanwhile, Mourinho also reiterated his belief that David De Gea will sign a new contract. United have triggered a 12-month option to extend the Spain goalkeeper’s existing deal until the end of next season. But Mourinho is confident the club will convince De Gea to commit his long-term future.
“He wants to stay, I want him to stay of course, he's the level of player Manchester United needs,” Mourinho said. “Manchester United needs the best players in the world, if we want to be Manchester United we need the best player in the world. The manager wants him to stay, the board wants, David wants him to stay, he’s not the kind of agent [Jorge Mendes] that is manipulative like others, his agent let’s him think and decide by himself. So the point is to agree the contract and that's just my feeling, they are going to finish well.”
Mourinho joked that he could have kept goal against Young Boys and it would have made no difference - up until the point where De Gea made an extraordinary save to prevent the Swiss champions from taking the lead.
"I think David's performance, you have to say for 92 mins to be David there or myself [in goal] would be the same. I can kick as well as him and zero saves, zero shots [from Young Boys].
"To be David or myself would be the same. Was a zero performance with a save that only the best in in the world can make and that's a fair analysis of his performance. When he needs to touch the ball he's the best."
