Former Manchester United star Rafael da Silva has fired a major dig at Alexis Sanchez following the Chilean flop’s controversial comments on his dismal spell at Old Trafford.
Jose Mourinho appeared to have pulled off a major coup when he beat Manchester City and Pep Guardiola to the signing of the former Barcelona forward in January 2018.
Sanchez had appeared destined to be reunited with Guardiola at the Etihad but the deal broke down amid a disagreement between the club and the player’s representative.
Having grown frustrated at Arsenal, Sanchez jumped at the opportunity to join Mourinho and earn an eye-watering £500,000-a-week salary.
The versatile forward earned a deserved reputation as one of world football’s most revered forwards following three-and-a-half years of uninterrupted excellence in north London but he failed to settle in the north west and failed to deliver for Mourinho and his successor Ole Gunnar Solskajer.
Sanchez, who has since relaunched his career at Inter, on Thursday made the astonishing claim that he wanted to return immediately to Arsenal after his first training session at Carrington.
He said: ‘I ended up signing without having a lot of information about what was happening with the move. During the first few days that I was with my new teammates, sometimes there are things that you do not realise until you arrive.
‘After the first training I had I realised many things. When I got home and I asked my family and my representative: “Can my contract be terminated and can I to return to Arsenal?”
‘They were laughing about it but I really felt there were some bad things going on at the club which I did not like.’
Da Silva, who infamously was named among a group of players Mourinho claimed he would never have sold, earned cult hero status during his time at United on account of his tenacity and commitment, took issue with Sanchez’s claim and hit back on Instagram.
He wrote: ‘Maybe he saw a ghost and get (sic) scared that explains why he played so bad every time.’
