The Chilean forward’s drawn-out transfer from Arsenal to Old Trafford was all but forgotten as two assists and glimpses of greatness marked his debut in an FA Cup victory at Yeovil
“He wants to play, he loves to play.” And so he does. For all the overblown shemozzle of Alexis Sánchez’s long goodbye from Arsenal, the dizzyingly tedious debates over net cost, balance of the deal, the artfully shot piano-plonking video cut, one thing has remained unaltered. Sánchez is a wonderfully pure footballer, a multimillionaire athlete who, as José Mourinho said before kick-off at Huish Park, really does just love to kick a ball around.

Sánchez was busy, full-blooded and in flashes quietly brilliant during his first hour as a Manchester United player. Before this FA Cup fourth- round match there had been the usual drooling rags v riches talk, a modern version of The Magic Of The Cup that tends, in this most materialist of ages, to focus on the finances, the Alexis-Sánchez-could-buy-the-whole-of-Somerset schtick.