LONDON – Manchester United legend Bryan Robson believes Alexis Sanchez would be a perfect fit for the club should he reject a new deal at Arsenal.
United struggled for goals this season – scoring at least 23 fewer than their top-six rivals – and were largely reliant on Zlatan Ibrahimovic before he suffered a cruciate-ligament injury.
With the futures of the 35-year-old and Wayne Rooney uncertain, United had been linked with Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann until on Thursday.
But Sanchez, who is entering the last year of his contract, is yet to commit to Arsenal and Robson thinks the 28-year-old would be a good acquisition.
‘His character is right, he’s a tough player, he’s really skilful,’ said the former United captain. ‘He works hard for the team, he can score and create goals. When you put that package into one, he’s the type that we would like here.
‘Whether we can achieve that or (Jose) Mourinho thinks the same - people have different opinions on individual players about whether they’re the sort you’d like.’
Robson also challenged Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial to score 20 goals next season after finding the net 19 times between them in the last campaign.
‘You hope Rashford and Martial improve that little bit again,’ added Robson. ‘Just be a little bit more clinical. They should have an aim: can they get over 20 goals next season? If they do, it takes the pressure off other people.’
And Robson wants Rooney to stay at Old Trafford. He said: ‘I think I’ve heard that Mourinho wants him to stay. Wayne hasn’t had such a great season but he’s still got unbelievable ability.’