Alexis Sanchez 'chomping at the bit' to make Man United return, says Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Tuesday 1 January 2019 11:19, UK
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says Alexis Sanchez is "chomping at the bit" to get his Manchester United career back on track.
Sanchez, who has scored just once this season in the Premier League, has been out since the end of November with a hamstring injury.
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But Solskjaer confirmed Sanchez will return for United's trip to Newcastle United on Wednesday night, live on Sky Sports, and said he has been impressed by the Chile forward since succeeding Jose Mourinho as manager.
"[Sanchez] had some great training sessions over the last few days," Solskjaer said, speaking following Sunday's 4-1 win over Bournemouth at Old Trafford.
"He wanted to be here today as well but we had to manage. Obviously he has been out for a month but he will be involved, yeah.
"He wants to play all the time. He is one of those characters. He made himself available [for Bournemouth] but it was a few days too early for him because he has not really had enough fitness work but he is chomping at the bit."
United have excelled under Solskjaer, winning three from three, while scoring 12 goals (average of four per game).
That is in contrast to their form under Mourinho, when they managed to score just 29 goals in 17 matches (average of 1.7 per game).
Players like Paul Pogba (four goals, four assists) and Marcus Rashford (two goals, one assist) appear to have found a new lease of life under Solskjaer and the Norwegian is optimistic former Arsenal forward Sanchez can follow suit.
"I think he is a player that would benefit from the interchanging, the rotation and the movements," Solskjaer said.
"Of course, the more chances you create and the more times you get the ball into the final third, [the more] he will be an asset for us - on the floor or in between or in behind.
"I think he is looking forward to it. It certainly looked like it yesterday in the session because he scored quite a few nice goals so that was encouraging."
