Manchester United’s Alexis Sanchez has met up with the Red Devils squad in the United States ahead of the team’s friendly with the San Jose Earthquakes. Sanchez’s fitness shouldn’t be a worry for the preseason fixture as he has completed sessions at the club’s Aon Training Complex. He will now feature for the Red Devils in Sunday’s match
Alexis Sanchez’s fitness no worry for preseason fixture
Manchester United started off their U.S. preseason tour with a 1-1 draw against Mexico’s Club America in Phoenix, Arizona.
It was good. After five days of training, you need to play and it’s good to play against a team that is three days away from starting their Mexican league,” Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho said after the draw. “[They were] a team with intensity, a team with quality that pushed us to levels that we weren’t prepared for but pushed us to these levels, so it was a good training session.
The Red Devils will now travel to San Francisco, California to take on Major League Soccer club San Jose Earthquakes on Sunday, July 22.
The match will be broadcast live on MUTV in the United Kingdom at 10 p.m. BST.
Ahead of the fixture against the Earthquakes, Mourinho addressed Sanchez’s fitness concerns.
“It’s about when Alexis lands and, when he lands, he has to play,” Mourinho said. “Because he trained with us for five days before we departed to LA and we left one fitness coach behind with him. Of course, it is individual training but, when he arrives, he has to play. If he is coming, he has to play.”
Sanchez is expected to feature in Manchester United’s three-man front line. Mourinho will deploy a 4-3-3 formation against San Jose.
The attacker had originally been denied a visa to enter the U.S. due to a 16-month suspended jail sentence he accepted for tax fraud in Spain. Sanchez’s tax problems occurred during his stint with Barcelona prior to joining Arsenal.
The Earthquakes have the worst points total in the entire MLS this season with just 12 points after 19 games.
