How are Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez doing since leaving Man Utd? | OneFootball

Highlights

Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez are widely seen as two of the worst transfers in Manchester United's history, with the pair arriving at the club along with huge expectations before leaving under a cloud of sorts. Both men had previously been seen as two massive stars in the Premier League during spells with former clubs.

Lukaku was brought in to solve the problems the Red Devils had faced in the number nine department after scoring 87 goals in 166 appearances for Everton during a loan spell and then a permanent stint afterward. Things didn't pan out as planned during his two years at Old Trafford after being brought in for £75 million from Everton in the summer of 2017.

While the Belgian was brought in purely for his goalscoring prowess, Sanchez was signed to be a superstar at the club after having transformed Arsenal into a scary side to come up against during his years at the Emirates. Playing from the left wing the majority of the time, the Chile international was a revelation and one of the best players in the entire division at the time. It was a tug-of-war between local rivals as Pep Guardiola was also keen on bringing Sanchez to the blue side of Manchester.

While it didn't work at Manchester United, both men ended up joining the same club in 2019, meaning their time as teammates was far from over. Things did also get better for the duo with their new side. So, we at GIVEMESPORT have decided to take a look at how they have fared since bringing their time at Old Trafford to an end.

How Romelu Lukaku has got on since leaving Man Utd

Surprisingly, United almost broke even when the time came to allow Lukaku to leave the club, as they were able to bring in £73 million from Serie A side - Inter Milan - in 2019. After having a tough couple of seasons with Man United, the Belgian was looking to regain the form he had shown for Everton in prior years. New motivation and hunger appeared to be present within the striker and the Italian side were able to reap the rewards.

A fully focused Lukaku netted an impressive 23 goals in 36 Serie A appearances during his first season with his new club, signalling the recapturing of his lethal goal-scoring form. Lukaku then went on to produce an even better record in the 2021/21 season as he helped Inter Milan to their first league title in 11 years with 24 goals and 10 assists in 36 games. His imperious performances in Italy earned yet another big-money move in his career as the striker headed back to Chelsea - where he had previously spent time as a younger player - for a fee of £97.5 million which was a club record at the time.

A goal on his second debut for the club against London rivals, Arsenal, fooled everyone into thinking the striker was about to take the league by storm and transform Chelsea into Premier League title challengers. This was far from the case as he would only go on to score eight goals in 26 league matches and even carry out a controversial interview in which he explained his desire to return to Milan.

The 30-year-old is now on loan at Roma in Italy after spending the 2022/23 season back at Inter Milan. Jose Mourinho was his manager at Manchester United for a time, and the Portuguese boss is now reunited with the big striker. There is a lot of work to do for Lukaku to have the same impact in Rome as he previously did in Milan, with several clubs ahead of Roma currently.

Romelu Lukaku's time at Man Utd

The Belgian striker spent two years with Man United and in those years, he played for a struggling team under Mourinho and then Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. United were nowhere near the force they used to be in years gone by and Lukaku wasn't the right fit in all honesty with his predatory approach to leading the line not aligning with the approach put into play by the managers at the time.

Even with the stylistic clash, he did manage to score 42 times in 96 games which is not far off a scoring rate of one in two. This shows that it wasn't exactly a case of his powers in front of goal fading but at times in football, things just don't work out and that was the case on this occasion. The fact that there was only a £2 million loss after getting two years of service out of the players means it can't be classed as a categorically bad signing, but the time was right to part ways for both parties.

How Alexis Sanchez has got on since leaving Man Utd

Sanchez followed in Lukaku's footsteps by trading Old Trafford for the San Siro as the former Arsenal man joined Inter Milan on loan ahead of the 2019/20 campaign. While his first season in Italy wasn't quite as prosperous in front of goal as Lukaku's, Sanchez did manage to contribute nine assists in the league for Antonio Conte's team. The performances he put in during that season were enough to convince the club to make the signing permanent the following summer.

Bringing his Manchester United nightmare to an end, the Chilean attacker found success as he and Lukaku both contributed towards Inter's Serie A title success in 2020/21. He almost managed a goal contribution in every two games as he scored seven times and also assisted seven goals in the league that season.

The following season was not quite as successful with the loss of Lukaku and Conte having a big impact on Inter's fortunes. Sanchez would remain at the club for the duration of the 2021/22 season before heading to Ligue 1 for a new challenge. Marseille was the next destination in Sanchez's career as he went on to shine, and the goals began to pick up again while he played in France with 14 league goals being scored in what turned out to be his sole term with the club.

The 34-year-old is now back with Inter Milan as he looks to assist the club in once again reaching the pinnacle of Italian football. The 2023/24 campaign has got off to a good start and Inter lead the way in the title race, but it remains to be seen whether Sanchez will be lifting a second Serie A trophy come the end of the season.

Of the two players being mentioned, Sanchez was certainly the most disappointing during his time at Man United. Somehow going from an exciting winger that was always at the heart of the action for the Gunners to a player who looked off the pace and generally disinterested, the forward flattered to deceive massively. He managed to score only five goals from 45 appearances for the Red Devils, a record of one goal in every nine games.

This was a far cry from the player fans had seen take the league by storm in an Arsenal shirt previously. Sanchez didn't command the massive fee that Lukaku did which is a mark in his favour, but the transfer overall goes down as one of the worst in the club's history.