Manchester United attacker Alexis Sanchez has revealed that he joined Inter Milan on loan in order to play more regularly.
The 30-year-old moved to Old Trafford from Arsenal in 2018, as part of a swap deal which saw Henrikh Mkhitaryan head to north London, but he found it difficult to adapt to life in Manchester.
The Chile international has only managed to score five goals in 45 appearances for United across all competitions to date and he was not included in any of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s first three matchday squads this season.
The Red Devils publicly insisted that Sanchez was not fit enough to be involved, having picked up a slight injury while on international duty at the 2019 Copa America.
The ex-Arsenal ace played six matches for Chile en route to the semi-finals, but he insists he was ready to play for United again after an extended break.
During an interview with BBC Sport, Sanchez explained exactly why he secured a transfer away from Old Trafford on August 29, with it his desire to play week in week out once again.
“I felt fine,” he began. “I think I did well in the Copa America.
“After that, it [not playing any pre-season games] depended on the coach to let me play. You need to ask him this question, not me.
“I think that I’m happy when I play for my national team. I was happy at Manchester United too, but I’ve always said to my friends: I want to play.
“If they would let me play I’ll do my best. Sometimes I’d play 60 minutes then I wouldn’t play the next game – and I didn’t know why.”
Sanchez joined Inter Milan on a season-long loan deal last week and although the Italian giants do not have the option to make that move permanent next year, it seems that the mercurial winger’s Old Trafford career is destined to draw to a premature close.
The Chilean scored 80 goals in 166 matches during his time at Arsenal but hasn’t come anywhere near close to matching that kind of form at the Theatre of Dreams, despite being on a wage packet of £400,000 a week – as per BBC Sport.
Regardless of his recent troubles, Sanchez insists he was happy with the Red Devils and doesn’t regret his move to Manchester.
“I’m very happy I went to Manchester United,” he told BBC Sport.
“I’ve always said that. It’s the club that’s won the most in England.
“When I went to Arsenal it was fantastic – I was happy there – but United were growing at the time, they were buying players to win something.
“I wanted to join them and win everything. I don’t regret going there.”
