Manchester United: Luke Shaw reveals Alexis Sanchez has been displaying his quality in training

Manchester United full-back Luke Shaw has revealed that he was surprised at the signing of Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal as the move came out of the blue without there being any links prior to the transfer.

Shaw is particularly impressed by what Sanchez can bring to the club following his outrageous antics in training and the Chilean is expected to make his debut for the Red Devils in the fourth round of the FA Cup against Yeovil Town.

Sanchez joined United on a long-term contract from Arsenal on Monday (22 January), with Henrikh Mkhitaryan moving in the opposite direction in a straight-swap deal. The 29-year-old was initially destined for Manchester City but United swooped in at the last moment with a bumper deal which blew the league leaders out of contention.

Sanchez came close to joining City on deadline day of the summer transfer window. However, Arsenal's failure to sign AS Monaco's Thomas Lemar as his replacement resulted in the former Barcelona forward continuing at the Emirates until January. United were not linked with a move over the entire season and the interest came so suddenly that Shaw was left bemused by the lack of build up to the transfer.

"It was quite surprising at the start because obviously he wasn't linked with us at all. Everything moved really quickly but really happy," Shaw said, as quoted by the Express.

"Obviously [he's] a phenomenal player, one of the best in the world and the quality he will bring to the side will surely boost our attacking threat. We've already seen his quality in training and some of things he's done are a joke."

Meanwhile, Sanchez revealed that it has always been a dream for him to play for United and he had even spoken to Sir Alex Ferguson about it. He spent three and half years at Arsenal before moving to Old Trafford, having transferred to north London from Barcelona in 2014.

"Since I was a young lad I've always said that my dream was to play for Manchester United, and I'm not just saying that because I'm here now and today it's come true. I always said as a kid that I'd like to play for United and I once spoke to Sir Alex Ferguson about it. We chatted for around 20 minutes. And I told him that my dream was to come here to Manchester United," Sanchez told United's official website.