190126 alexis sanchez
United striker Alexis Sanchez. Image Credit: AFP

Manchester: Alexis Sanchez still has a future at Manchester United, according to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, despite speculation that the Premier League giants are trying to offload the unproductive Chilean.

Reports claim United’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward has repeatedly attempted to find a buyer for Sanchez, who arrived at Old Trafford 18 months ago with high expectations.

However, Sanchez has scored just five goals in 45 appearances for the club after netting a four-and-a-half year deal reportedly worth nearly £500,000 a week (Dh2.23 million).

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Image Credit: AFP

Those huge wages are the stumbling block to United finding an interested buyer, even with the transfer window for European clubs open until September 2.

And with Romelu Lukaku having left Manchester this month to join Inter Milan, Solskjaer claims Sanchez will remain at Old Trafford to offer competition to Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial in attack.

“Alexis is such a professional and he comes in working every single day really hard and he wants to be a part of this,” said Solskjaer.

“These stories that he’s been put in the reserves? Of course he hasn’t, he’s part of our squad and he is a really good player.

“We don’t have the biggest forward line in numbers so Alexis might end up playing a lot more games than you expect because we expect him to come good at this club, he’s quality.”

Following their 4-0 win over Chelsea on the opening day of the season, United face Wolves the Molineux Stadium on Monday.