Alexis Sanchez missed drugs test ‘understandable’, says Jose Mourinho

Jose Mourinho says no one is at fault for Alexis Sanchez missing his drugs test.

Sanchez failed to inform UK Anti-Doping of his whereabouts on Monday while he was finalising his switch to Manchester United, in a deal which saw Henrikh Mkhitaryan join Arsenal in a swap.

Arsene Wenger said on Friday that Arsenal should take full responsibility for failing to report Sanchez’s absence to the authorities before they arrived at the London Colney training ground.

But Mourinho, who extended his deal at Old Trafford to keep him at the club until 2020, believes it was no more than a mix-up caused by the timing of the transfer.

“I think Arsenal were very honest in the way they approached the situation,” said Mourinho, of Sanchez’s missed drugs test.

“We all know we must tell the whereabouts, our players where they are 24 hours a day.

“Nobody knew where he was going to be, it was just a period of his transfer. So I think it’s easily understandable, no one’s mistake and just a consequence of the moment.”

Sanchez played a key role in United’s 4-0 win over Yeovil in the FA Cup, assisting Ander Herrera, and Mourinho was clearly pleased to see his newest acquisition demonstrating his worth on his debut.

“He was cheap wasn’t he? A free transfer, that’s good,” joked Mourinho.

“For that price it’s fantastic. I think everybody thinks the same in this country. Everybody has to agree he’s a fantastic player and it’s a plus.

“We have a group of attacking players; [Jesse] Lingard, [Romelu] Lukaku on the bench, [Zlatan] Zlatan, [Anthony] Martial at home. We have good quality in the group.”

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