On Sunday Manchester United jetted off to America for their 2018 pre-season. Man United will take part in five matches in the US. Those matches will be against Club America, San Jose Earthquake, AC Milan, Liverpool and finally Real Madrid on July 31. One player missing from the Man United touring party was former Arsenal star Alexis Sanchez. Considering that Sanchez missed the World Cup with Chile, his failure to get on the plane with his team mates raised eyebrows.
And now we know why Alexis was missing. As confirmed on Tuesday morning, Alexis Sanchez is banned from entering America due to tax fraud problems: Manchester United’s pre-season plans were thrown into disarray yesterday after Alexis Sánchez was denied entry to the United States because of a tax fraud conviction. The club said that “a personal administrative issue” had prevented Sánchez from travelling. It is understood that US authorities denied him a visa because of a tax fraud conviction in Spain.
If Alexis Sanchez misses the Man United American tour, that will be an obvious blow for Jose Mourinho. However the South American is planning to appeal the visa decision in an effort to go to America. But will that appeal be successful? Man United have no guarantees to believe the decision will be overturned. Should he not get a visa, he will be available for only one pre-season game — the friendly against Bayern Munich in Germany on August 5.