Manchester United hopeful on Alexis Sanchez joining up with squad on pre-season US tour after visa denied

Former Arsenal forward was denied entry to the United States after accepting a 16-month suspended jail sentence for tax fraud in Spain

Manchester United remain hopeful that Alexis Sanchez will join up on their tour of the United States, or otherwise the forward will head into the new season heavily undercooked for the new Premier League campaign.

Sanchez was denied a US visa for this month’s pre-season tour due to a 16-month suspended jail sentence that he accepted in Spain for tax fraud earlier this year.

It means that United have been forced to leave one of their star players at home as they embark on a five-match tour of United States, with US law ruling that no person found guilty of fraud can be granted a visa to enter the country from overseas.

United remain hopeful that Sanchez will be allowed to join up with the squad through the waiver system, but the process has taken longer than expected and there is a risk that the Chile international will not be granted clearance to travel to the US to link up with the squad.

Should that prove to be the case, Sanchez will have just one game left that he could feature in before the start of the new season, with United set to take on Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena.

United are due to get their pre-season programme up and running against Club America on Friday, with their friendly against the Mexican side due to kick-off at 03:00 BST. Further friendlies against San Joe Earthquakes, AC Milan, Liverpool and Real Madrid are also planned as the club once again compete in the International Champions Cup pre-season tournament.

Alexis Sanchez was denied a US visa for Manchester United's pre-season tour (Getty)

United do not know when a decision will be made on Sanchez’s visa situation, but he is likely to miss the opening friendly and with their next game against MLS side San Jose coming just two days late, the 29-year-old faces a race against time to get his pre-season up and running.