Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes Alexis Sanchez is on a mission to revitalise his career after backing the Manchester United forward to put a miserable past 12 months behind him and start the new year with a flourish.

Sanchez is due to make his comeback from injury against Newcastle at St James’ Park on Wednesday night after more than a month out with a hamstring tear.

The Chile forward endured a torrid 2018 in the wake of his move from Arsenal last January, scoring just four goals in 30 appearances, and was seeking an exit route this month after growing increasingly disheartened under former manager Jose Mourinho at Old Trafford.

But United have thrown off the shackles to score 12 goals in three games under Solskjaer in the wake of Mourinho’s sacking and the interim manager is convinced his troubled £500,000 a week star should feel liberated by the team’s new attacking ambitions.

“I think he’s a player that would benefit from the interchanging, the rotation, the movement,” Solskjaer said. “The more chances you create, the more times you get the ball into the final third. He’ll be an asset for us.