Manchester United have officially announced that the loans of Chris Smalling and Alexis Sanchez have been extended so they can finish their current league campaigns after a delay due to Covid-19.
As a result of this agreement, Smalling and Sanchez will stay with their respective loan sides Roma and Inter Milan until Serie A is completed, which is expected to be in the early stages of August.
The duo were both sent out on loan last summer after they fell down the pecking order in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s squad, Sanchez was the most notable exit owing to his poor performances since the Red Devils recruited him in a marquee move two-and-a-half-years ago.
Sanchez has battled with injury troubles this season which have limited the ace to just 19 appearances across all competitions, with 11 of these outings seeing the ace come off the bench.
Smalling on the other hand has rejuvenated himself in a fantastic spell with Roma, the England international has been one of the Italian top-flight’s best defenders this season.
Sanchez’s Inter are already out of the title race and they have a fairly large lead over fifth-placed Roma, so they have little to play for with a spot in the Champions League seemingly secure.
Roma are nine points behind fourth-placed Atalanta, so it’s very quite unlikely that even a strong run-in to the season will see the Giallorossi secure Champions League qualification.