‘I regretted joining Man Utd from Arsenal – I wanted to rip up my contract and go back’

Alexis Sanchez possessed a hero status at Arsenal before his transfer to Manchester United, which the Chilean admitted he instantly regretted

Alexis Sanchez admitted that he was prepared to rip up his Manchester United deal in order to return to Arsenal after just his first Red Devils training session. The Chilean spent three-and-a-half years in north London and accrued an impressive 80 goals and 44 assists in 160 games for the Gunners.

Having established himself as one of the best players in the Premier League after a three-year stint at Barcelona, where he won everything but the Champions League, then-United boss Jose Mourinho came calling in 2018.

In what was a rare transfer situation, United and Arsenal – who clash on Sunday in their first Premier League game of the season -opted to complete a swap deal, with Sanchez moving to Manchester, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan going in the opposite direction in January 2018.

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Prior to the move being completed, Sanchez had scored seven goals in 19 league games, a relatively slow start for the winger, given that he had netted 24 goals the season before.

In a devastating drop-off in form, Sanchez scored just two more league goals for the rest of the season. He ended his first six months as a Red Devil with three goals in 18 games across all competitions.

Speaking in 2020, Sanchez admitted he was initially positive about becoming a United player but those thoughts were swiftly dashed after just one training session. “I accepted the opportunity to go to United, it felt tempting, and it was something good for me,” he said.

“I liked this club a lot when I was a kid. Eventually, I signed, but I didn’t ask for information on what was happening inside the club. Sometimes there are things that you don’t realise until you get there, and I remember the first training session I had, I realised a lot of things.

“After the session I got home and I told my family and my agent, ‘Can you not rip up the contract to go back to Arsenal?’ They laughed. I told them there was something that didn’t sit right, it didn’t seem good. But I had already signed; I was already there. After the first few months, I carried on having the same feeling. We weren’t united as a team in that moment.”

Sanchez’s sophomore season at United, which was also his last, was even worse than his debut campaign. He managed just one league goal in 20 games and was resigned to a bench role for much of the season.

After being dropped for an away trip to West Ham because he failed to score in the first six league games of the season, Sanchez said Mourinho’s decision to relegate him dented his confidence.

“In a game with West Ham, I wasn’t picked,” Sanchez continued. “That had never happened to me as a player. It bothered me, and I said it couldn’t be possible. “To go from being one of the best in the Premier League to not playing in five months. I came to my house, and I was very sad. The next day, I trained in a double shift because I love what I do.”

United chiefs called time on the failed experiment as Sanchez was sent out on loan to Inter Milan in 2019 before making the switch permanent a year later.

He’s since turned out for Marseille before returning to Inter in 2023 for just a season as he secured a return to fellow Serie A side Udinese, the first European club he played for after leaving his homeland.

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