Alexis Sanchez’s Manchester United nightmare has come to a temporary end after he joined Serie A side Inter on loan.
Neither club confirmed if there is a purchase option included in the deal, which was announced on Thursday, livescore.com reports.
Inter gleefully welcomed Sanchez, the Chile forward on Thursday with a long bio and hoping that he will find comfort in linking up with ex-team mates in Udinese and Manchester United, such as Samir Handanovic and Kwadwo Asamoah, as well as with Romelu Lukaku, with whom he spent the last season and a half at Manchester United.
Sanchez is the fifth Chilean in Inter’s history, with Ivan Zamorano, David Pizarro, Luis Jimenez and Gary Medel coming before him.
There were high hopes for Sanchez at United following his arrival from Premier League rivals Arsenal in January 2018 – a deal which saw Henrikh Mkhitaryan move to the Gunners.
However, Sanchez failed to make an impact at Old Trafford, where injuries and poor form contributed to a miserable spell.
Sanchez only managed five goals in 45 appearances across all competitions, with three of those strikes coming in the Premier League.
The 30-year-old, who featured at the Copa America, did not make an appearance for United in 2019-20, having not taken part in any pre-season fixtures following his international commitments with Chile.
Sanchez was born on 19 December 1988 in the small Chilean town of Tocopila.
He showed signs early as a skilled footballer. His first ever football boots were a gift from the mayor of his town, and he wore these for his first real footballing experience with Cobreloa.
It was from here in the Atacama desert that he was signed by Udinese, with over 10,000 kilometres separating the two clubs. The move saw two loan spells before his arrival in Udine: first at Colo Colo (winning two titles), then at River Plate (winning the Argentinian Clausura in 2008). At long last he arrived in Europe, with Udinese in Italy.
In Chile, he had already earned the nickname of “El Niño Maravilla”, the Wonder Boy. What he lacked in height, Alexis always made up for in ingenuity, incredible technique, and pace. Three seasons in Serie A saw increasingly positive performances and goal tallies. At times he was simply unstoppable, so much so that it wasn’t long before Barcelona came calling, and in his time there he won a league title, a UEFA Super Cup, a Club World Cup, two Spanish Super Cups and a Copa del Rey.
Then from Catalonia to England as he moved to Arsenal, scoring prolifically and winning two FA Cups and three Community Shields. Finally, in 2018, he signed for Manchester United, where he failed to re-enact his form.
