It was long known that Alexis Sanchez was a player that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the coach of Manchester United, wanted to offload from Old Trafford. After some uncertainties, there is finally a destiny for the Chilean, who will join his former teammate Romelu Lukaku, in Inter Milan.
The Chilean arrives on loan with an option to buy. Alexis has a salary of €430 000 per week and Inter agreed to pay €195 000, with United covering the rest of his paycheck. Sanchez was signed in January of 2018 from Arsenal, costing €34M to the Red Devils.
He never achieved the level and consistency, that he previously showed in Arsenal and Barcelona. In one season and a half, he scored only 5 goals and 9 assists in 45 appearances.
The now 30-year-old was born in Tocopilla, in the north part of Chile. He developed through the academy of Chilean club Cobreloa, where he made his professional debut in 2005, aged 16.
In 2006, Serie A table club Udinese decided to buy the youngster, loaning him due to him being a minor, to another Chilean club: Colo-Colo. In 2007 he was loaned to Argentinian club River Plate, where he won his first professional title: the Argentinian League (Clausura).
From Udine to the Guardiola’s Barcelona
He finally started playing professionally for Udinese in 2008, joining fellow Chilean players Mauricio Isla and Nicolas Corvetto. He played 3 seasons in Serie A, scoring 21 goals and making 20 assists, in 112 appearances.
In July 2011, Sanchez arrived in Barcelona, for a fee of €33.27M. He was immediately winning titles in the ‘Blaugrana’, who were the current Champions League holders. He played against Porto in the UEFA SuperCup, won by Barcelona 2-0, coming on as a sub to win his first international title, later won winning the Club World Cup with the Catalan side.
He also won La Liga and Copa del Rey for Barcelona, and during the 3 seasons spent in Camp Nou, he scored 47 goals and made 35 assists in 141 matches. In 2014, however, after Luis Suarez arrived from Liverpool to Barcelona, Sanchez felt he would lose space in the team and he sought for a new club.
From an icon at the Emirates to a traitor
Arsenal came calling, paying around €33M for the Chilean and he became a fan favorite at the Emirates. He helped the Gunners to conquer two FA Cups, scoring in the final against Aston Villa in 2015 and also in the 2017 final against Chelsea.
Besides titles, he achieved a total of 80 goals in 4 seasons, making also 45 assists for the Premier League table team.
So, it was a slight stab in the back when he decided to switch Arsenal for their rivals of Manchester United. However, looking back now, we can say that Arsenal probably has no regrets, since Sanchez severely underperformed in United.
It is also worth reminding that Sanchez is a Chilean international, having 43 goals in 130 caps, making him the top scorer and the most capped player in the history of his country. For Chile, Alexis Sanchez won two Copa Americas in 2015 and 2016.
Now, Alexis Sanchez returns to Serie A and we will expect for Antonio Conte to resuscitate the talent we all know the South American forward has. Inter started Serie A schedule on a rampage, scoring 4 past debutant Lecce and his former United mate, Lukaku, has already left his mark. Will Sanchez do the same and make history at the Giuseppe Meazza?
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