Former Arsenal man Alexis Sanchez will not take part in Manchester United’s pre-season tour of the States after he was denied entry to the country due to his tax problems in Spain.

United flew Stateside on Sunday but Alexis was missing from the travelling party with United saying that he did not travel due to ‘‘personal administrative issues’.

But the media are now reporting that he had problems obtaining a visa due after he accepted a 16-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to ‘illegally defrauding the Spanish treasury of £885,000’ when he was a Barcelona player (namely the 12/13 season).

Sanchez came to an agreement that saw him plead guilty and accept the prison sentence that he would not have to serve as it was under two years.

The Chilean forward, who scored just three goals after leaving Arsenal in January, is still hopeful of being granted a waiver so he can join his teammates for pre-season Sanchez and his lawyer, Ruben Inostroza Povea, have been in talks with American officials and the US embassy in a bid to resolve the issue.

Manchester United, meanwhile, continue to pay him £500,000 per week.