Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has given Man Utd chief executive Ed Woodward some transfer advice after Jose Mourinho left them in a mess over the Alexis Sanchez, according to reports.
Sanchez joined Man Utd in a part-exchange deal from Arsenal, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan moving the other way. But the forward struggled immensely at Old Trafford under Mourinho, scoring just five goals for the club in 45 appearances.
The Chilean initially struggled at Inter Milan too under Antonio Conte but he played more games towards the end of the season, scoring four and assisting eight in 22 Serie A games, a far more successful return than during his time at Old Trafford.
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His form convinced the Italian giants to sign him on a free transfer this summer but only after Man Utd had reportedly paid £9m to terminate his contract.
Sanchez’s wage at Man Utd was around £500,000 a week after bonuses and now Solskjaer is insisting the club never find themselves in the same position.
ESPN claims that Solskjaer has told Woodward ‘to value dressing room harmony over transfer business as the club continue to deal with the fall-out from Alexis Sanchez’s disastrous move’.
The Norwegian has a ‘desire that United no longer give in to extortionate wage demands’ with Donny van de Beek’s ‘willingness to fit into the existing wage structure’ a huge part of why the transfer was sorted so quickly.
The report added that when he joined in December 2018, Solskjaer ‘found Sanchez’s deal had caused problems in the dressing room as other players looked to measure their value and importance against the club’s top earner’.
Solskjaer is ‘willing to miss out on targets if it means keeping his existing squad happy’ with Woodward backing his stance.