Happy I joined Manchester United, admits Alexis Sanchez
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Alexis Sanchez has opened up about his time at Manchester United, revealing that he does not regret his move to Old Trafford. The 30-year-old left the Red Devils on a 10-month long loan spell to Inter Milan, joining former Red Devil Romelu Lukaku and former Premier League boss Antonio Conte.
With Daniel James’ arrival this summer and manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer opting to use either Anthony Martial or Marcus Rashford as his preferred center-forward, Alexis Sanchez had found minutes hard to come by. The 30-year-old may have arrived at Old Trafford as the marquee star under Jose Mourinho but under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, it was a completely different story.
The Norweigan gave the former Arsenal forward a chance to shine, but his struggles in front of goal continued with Sanchez scoring just 5 in 45 appearances. That eventually saw Solskjaer turn his attention towards players he believed could help the Red Devils moving forward. It's a move that saw Daniel James join the club and Sanchez leave for Inter Milan on a season-long loan deal this summer, just 19 months after he made the initial move from Arsenal.
Yet despite his struggles, the Chilean opened up to BBC in an exclusive interview, revealing that he does not regret his move to Old Trafford and that he was, contrary to popular opinion, very happy there.
"I'm very happy I went to Manchester United. 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,"Â he told BBC Sport.
"I don't regret going there. 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,” added Sanchez.
While Sanchez did eventually end up leaving Manchester United, the 30-year-old was a part of Solskjaer’s squads for both the pre-season and the start of the Premier League season. But the Chilean never featured in a single, with reports indicating that he returned from the Copa America injured.
"I felt fine. 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,” concluded the former Barcelona star.
