Sanchez's huge salary will make him an easy target - Mourinho

Sanchez’s huge salary will make him an easy target – Mourinho

Jose Mourinho fears Alexis Sanchez’s huge salary at Manchester United will make him a target for opposition supporters.

Sanchez is guaranteed a hostile reception from Tottenham fans at Wembley on Wednesday evening as the Chile striker prepares to make his Premier League debut for United, nine days after his move from Arsenal.

Mourinho believes Sanchez, whose £14million a year after tax salary makes him the highest paid player in Premier League history, expects his new signing to be barracked by fans across the country.

But the United manager is convinced Sanchez – who was jeered by Yeovil Town supporters during last Friday’s 4-0 FA Cup win at Huish Park – will let any abuse wash over him.

“I think he is probably going to get that kind of reception everywhere, it doesn’t matter about the previous rivalry between Spurs and Arsenal,” Mourinho said. “I think he will get a little bit of that everywhere.

“I don’t know if it’s true or not true but that story of him being at least one of the top salaries in Premier League football, to change a big club for another big club, this kind of situation attracts a little bit of it, but I don’t think he cares.

“He’s the kind of player, with all his experience, who I think is used to it. Even in South America, I don’t think it’s easy for Chile to play in Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, so I think these guys grew up with a certain level of experiences. I don’t think it’s a problem for him at all.”

Mourinho believes Sanchez’s arrival will only have a positive impact on the development of Marcus Rashford and took the opportunity to ridicule claims his arrival as manager at Old Trafford would stifle young talent given his reputation for not giving youth a chance at previous clubs. No player has made more appearances under Mourinho at United than the 20-year-old England striker.

“Marcus’ story is quite interesting because he started playing with Mr [Louis] Van Gaal when the team was really in trouble to have options,” Mourinho said. “Then the monster that kills the little kids arrived, but he plays every game since then.

“Starting or coming from the bench, as a striker, left winger, right winger, then he goes to the national team. The kid is having a hell of an experience at every level so an amazing future waits for him and being surrounded by these players can only help him. But the whole story of Marcus will not get minutes and matches is really old because he’s a very important player for us.”

Mourinho remains hopeful Marouane Fellaini will sign a new contract but intimated he will need to sign two new midfielders in the summer if the Belgian leaves given that Michael Carrick will retire at the end of the season and join his coaching staff.

“I think in attack it’s difficult for us to improve,” Mourinho said. “Where are we going to get a better combination of players than we have? We cannot buy [Lionel] Messi, we cannot buy Cristiano [Ronaldo] – these are the best players of the last decade. Where can we get better players than Mata, Martial, Lingard, Rashford, Alexis, Lukaku? In attack we have an amazing group of players.

“It’s there in midfield where we need to get a player to compensate for the situation of Michael. If Marouane leaves, yes we have two gaps there, so let’s see what happens. In relation to Marouane the good thing is that he would like to stay with us and we would like him to stay with us. To sign a contract a person must be happy. Let’s see if we can make him happy.”

Mourinho also confirmed United had invoked a 12-month option to extend Juan Mata’s contract until the end of next season.

“Yeah, it was [extended],” Mourinho said. “Mata is very important. He is another one, a big story when I arrived one and a half years ago. ‘Mata in trouble, in trouble, in trouble’. Now he’s getting an extension of one more year. He’s an important player for me, an important player for the club, an important player for the other players.”

Meanwhile, Roma have enquired about signing United left back Daley Blind, currently sidelined with an ankle injury, according to reports in Italy.

-TelegraphUK