(Photo credit: Станислав Ведмидь)
The arrival of Alexis Sanchez, signed from Arsenal and poached from Manchester City, was a classic move from Jose Mourinho and Manchester United.
It mirrored the summer deal for Chelsea midfielder Nemanja Matic (and attempted move for Willian), where not only did the club intend to make a statement of intent but to weaken direct rivals in the process.
Mourinho has often used this as a tactic down the years, intentionally instructing his board to target key players from rival clubs and also those from abroad whom rivals had shown an interest in.
Yet despite landing most his preferred targets, United trail their Manchester rivals by a whopping 15 points. So where is it going wrong?
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