WHY UNITED HAVE HAD TO WAIT FOR A CHILEAN

Alexis Sanchez will become the first Chilean to play a competitive match for Manchester United but there have been other occasions when his fellow compatriots came close to having that honour.

All three came during Sir Alex Ferguson's reign as manager, with the first, one of the greatest players in the South American country's history. Marcelo Salas was a gifted centre-forward who was targeted by the Reds in the late 1990s, when the club was on the hunt for a new striker.
Back in 2012, Sir Alex told me for Inside United: "We were in for Marcelo Salas. I went over to see Salas. I sent [my assistant] Brian Kidd to see him and he came back and said you need to see him yourself so I had to go out. They were playing Bolivia in a World Cup tie but he didn't quite match what I was looking for then. He went to Lazio and got a serious injury that really affected his career but he still had a good career and he scored twice at Wembley against England."
Universidad Catolica defender Dante Poli came even closer to joining the club and did pull on the red shirt in friendlies. The 21-year-old centre-back arrived on trial before the 1997/98 campaign and his big moment came when he came on as a substitute for Ronny Johnsen in an Old Trafford pre-season encounter with Inter Milan. He also appeared off the bench in a 2-2 draw against Slavia Prague, plus a Reserves fixture with Bournemouth.
"Alex Ferguson, the coach, told me to play as a centre-back on the left," he later recalled in La Tercera. "I had to face Maurizio Ganz, Nicola Berti and Javier Zanetti. I participated a lot in the game because Peter Schmeichel came out to pass to me several times. I even nearly scored a header from a corner - it was fun!"
In the end, United pursued Celio Silva instead but were unable to obtain a work permit for the Brazilian from Corinthians, finally turning to Blackburn Rovers stopper Henning Berg, who became the first man to win the Premier League with two different clubs.
Of course, United have actually signed a Chilean in the past. Angelo Henriquez arrived in 2012 from Universidad de Chile, with Sir Alex declaring: "We scouted him when he was 14 years of age and just monitored him. When he turned 18 - it's the first time we can sign them in this country at 18 - and we were very fortunate the Chile Under-20s were over here. They were in tournaments at the Milk Cup and over in Holland.
"We watched all the games and everyone said you need to bring him in. He's very quick and a good finisher. He's strong with great shoulders on him for a boy of 18."
Henriquez scored in a 1-1 friendly draw with in AIK Fotboll in Stockholm during a pre-season friendly in David Moyes's spell in charge. The young striker never broke into the first team, however, despite a promising loan spell with Wigan Athletic and currently represents Atlas in Mexico, alongside another former Red in Ravel Morrison. They love playing football. The South Americans love it - it's just in their blood.