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Gossip: Man Utd fear 'miserable' Alexis is 'new Di Maria', Chelsea 'want Alderweireld', Bayern 'target Pochettino'

Jose Mourinho could be fearing the worst after Alexis Sanchez’s innocuous start to life at Old Trafford
Jose Mourinho could be fearing the worst after Alexis Sanchez’s innocuous start to life at Old Trafford

Let’s talk about football heritage. The players Manchester United’s next manager will heritate – is that the verb? – no, sorry, inherit from Jose Mourinho are Romelu Lukaku and Nemanja Matic. Mourinho said so himself. But what about the other players Jose has spent millions of pounds on?

What about Alexis Sanchez?

There was no mention of United’s highest-paid player in Mourinho’s little 12-minute press conference last week – the Chilean having failed to excel since moving to Old Trafford a couple of months ago.

Now, the Daily Mail claims the expensive 29-year-old is “struggling to settle” at his new club, sparking fears they may have “another Angel Di Maria” on their hands.

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Di Maria, United fans will not need reminding, arrived to much fanfare on a similarly exorbitant deal in 2014 but was offloaded a year later after failing to make an impact. And according to the Mail’s United “source”, Alexis is going the same way.

The former Arsenal star, who always looks so happy in his Instagram videos, has apparently surprised United staff with his “miserable demeanour”. He is said to cut “an unhappy, isolated figure who often eats alone in the canteen”.

The “source” said: “He looks like someone who doesn’t want to be here. The whole thing doesn’t seem right and he looks like a lost boy. It was the same with Di Maria.”

A heartbreaking tale, but if you have been personally affected by this story and would like to speak to someone about it, console yourself with the fact that Alexis’ new £600,000-a-week wage should offer him some solace during this difficult time.


Chelsea join race for Alderweireld

Toby Alderweireld will not have much sympathy – the poor fella only earns £50,000 a week at Tottenham. But that’s all going to change soon.

The Belgian looks increasingly likely to leave north London in search of his fortune, and the Express reports that Chelsea have joined the line of clubs queuing up to sign him.

The Blues want to rebuild their defence this summer, with experienced duo David Luiz and Gary Cahill both enduring tricky seasons, and have reportedly hatched a “sneaky plan” to offer Alderweireld “a whopping £150,000 a week deal”.

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But while Toby would certainly earn more cash at Stamford Bridge, it could be at the expense of Champions League football. And he surely doesn’t want to end up like Alexis – rich and miserable.

Meanwhile, Spurs are also having to fend off more advances for their manager – this time from Bayern Munich.

The Mirror – via German paper Bild – says the Bundesliga champions have put Mauricio Pochettino “among their top targets” to replace ancient incumbent Jupp Heynckes, who is set to retire at the of the season.

Elsewhere, Liverpool will not sell star man Mohamed Salah this summer and will not be forced to because the Egyptian has no release clause in his contract (ESPN), Jack Wilshere wants to stay at Arsenal and will give the Gunners “another chance” to offer him a better deal after turning down a pay cut, which is nice of him (Sun) and Man Utd have “suffered a huge transfer blow” after defensive target Milan Skriniar said he wants to stay at Inter Milan (Star). No surprise that Milan feels at home in Milan.

@darlingkevin