Is the usually mild mannered Ole Gunnar Solskjaer showing signs of impatience with Alexis Sanchez?

The Chilean, who signed from Arsenal by Jose Mourinho in January 2018 on a four-and-a-half-year contract, has struggled to settle in at Old Trafford since his arrival.

In recent weeks the United interim manager has praised Sanchez for his commitment in training as he fought back from injury and a subsequent loss of form. 

But despite impressing in United’s FA Cup fourth-round win over Arsenal at the end of January, Sanchez has struggled to earn a start in the league largely due to the form of Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard.

And the 30-year-old did very little to help his cause, putting in a woeful display having come on as a first-half substitute for the injured Lingard in United’s 2-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Tuesday night. Solskjaer admitted the onus was on the player to prove his worth.

He said: “I can't do anything about Alexis Sanchez. When he plays he needs to find himself because we know there’s a quality player there.”

The Red Devils suffered their first defeat since Solskjaer took over the Old Trafford hot-seat after second-half goals from Presnel Kimpembe and Kylian Mbappe secured victory for the French champions.

Paul Pogba saw red in the latter stages of the contest and will miss the return leg at the Parc des Princes in three weeks’ time.

After the game Solskjaer admitted the defeat showed that there was still work to do following an outstanding run of 10 wins in 11 games since taking over from Mourinho in December.

“Today is a reality check for us on the level of top teams. They had the momentum after the first goal and controlled the game,” said the Norwegian.

“You could see that we hadn’t played at this level for a while and we will have to learn.

“It was an experience that can go either way, it’s not going to be a season-defining one, it’s one we have to learn from.”