Marseille manager praises Alexis Sanchez; claims Messi and Ronaldo among two others are above him

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By Martin Graham | 13th May 2023

Olympique de Marseille manager Igor Tudor has praised Chilean forward Alexis Sanchez for his impact in the team this season.

Sanchez moved to the Orange Velodrome last summer after terminating his contract with Inter Milan. In that time, he has proven that age is just a number, putting in incredible performances that the veterans of his generation would be proud of.

The 34-year-old has 17 goals in 40 games for Marseille this season, with 13 of those coming in the league. That is seven more than their second highest goalscorer, fullback Nuno Tavares, who is on loan from his former club Arsenal.

It also makes him their highest Ligue 1 goalscorer this season and inadvertently, their most important player. This has been his best season numbers-wise since he left the Gunners in 2018.

Tudor has praised him for the new dimension he has brought to Marseille’s attack and claims that he is as big a star as his otherworldly peers, former Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi and former El Clasico rival Cristiano Ronaldo.

Tudor was speaking at a press conference on Friday ahead of the club’s Ligue 1 match against Angers, which will help seal their qualification to the UEFA Europa League. “He’s a key player of our team. The football changes at Olympique de Marseille when he plays,” Tudor told the reporters at the presser.

“He’s another level of player. He’s a player that sometimes we don’t give attention to his level of the player because he’s a normal, humble guy.

“He doesn’t behave like a star but for me after the aliens that are [Lionel] Messi, [Cristiano] Ronaldo, {statorium_player pid=1994 sid=167 text=”[Kylian] Mbappe”} and {statorium_player pid=4812 sid=165 text=”[Erling] Haaland”}, he’s there.

“He’s a player who’s impossible to replace and every team in the world when he’s out will feel this, so we also felt it.”

Sunday’s game against already relegated Angers could see them move ahead of RC Lens into second place. This will see them seize the second UEFA Champions League slot allocated to the French Ligue 1.

Sanchez is expected to play a key role in that game and with any luck, he will increase his goal tally to the glee of the club’s supporters. Should they achieve this, he would have had a better debut season than Lionel Messi, who joined PSG in 2021 after his departure from Barcelona.

However, he will have to watch his CONMEBOL counterpart win another trophy, which will be PSG’s record-extending 11th French Ligue 1 title.