Jose Mourinho wishes he signed Ivan Perisic instead of Alexis Sanchez, according to reports this weekend.

The Times wrote that Mourinho was initially happy to take Sanchez in January, but he’s since grown unhappy with the forward. Staff at Carrington reportedly commonly describe the Chilean’s performances as “average”, and Mourinho calls Sanchez’s dip in form “a mystery”.

Behind closed doors, Mourinho has admitted that he would’ve preferred to bring in Ivan Perisic from Inter Milan than sign the former Arsenal star.

Meanwhile, Manchester City privately admit that they “dodged a bullet” by not signing the forward, and the player himself reportedly wants to leave for Paris Saint-Germain.

It’s becoming difficult for Sanchez to get anything right at the moment. Even in landmark victories for United like the one over Juventus on Wednesday, they only turned things around after he left the field for Marouane Fellaini.

When Fellaini is having a bigger impact on matches than Arsenal’s former top scorer, something has clearly gone wrong. Four goals in 28 appearances for his new side, and only one of those this season, just emphasises that point.

From an Arsenal point of view, it’s difficult to have much sympathy. Everyone knew that Sanchez was one of two established stars in North London and that the team played to his strengths.

He was always taking a gamble moving to Manchester United, where it was clear neither of those things would be the case. Let him live with the consequences of that decision.