Mourinho insists Alexis Sanchez 'has to play' after US tour delay

Jose Mourinho is expecting Alexis Sanchez to be ready for action when he joins up with Manchester United's tour squad after initially being denied entry to the United States.

The forward was left back in Manchester when the squad headed across the Atlantic last weekend because of what the club said was a "personal administrative issue", which it was hoped would soon be resolved to allow him to join the pre-season party at a later date.

The administrative issue was assumed to be a problem with his visa after he accepted a 16-month suspended prison sentence in Spain earlier this year over a tax issue.

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Sanchez posted a picture on Instagram on Thursday accompanied by the caption: "The last training in Manchester, soon" followed by a picture of the US, and United later confirmed the Chilean would be flying to the States.

Sanchez has been busy working on his fitness alone at United's Carrington training base, and Mourinho said of the forward: "It’s about when Alexis lands and, when he lands, he has to play.

"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."

The first game of United's tour ended in a 1-1 draw against Club America on Friday, with games against San Jose Earthquakes, AC Milan, Liverpool and Real Madrid coming up.

Before Sanchez was given the green light to fly to the US, Mourinho had been desperate for the Chilean to play given his lack of forward options for the start of the new season.

"Hopefully, he can at least join us later because it is important to work with Juan Mata, Alexis and Anthony Martial, who we think are the players we have for the start of the season," he explained.

"There is no (Romelu) Lukaku, (Marcus) Rashford or (Jesse) Lingard (all of whom were involved in the World Cup semi-finals)."