Alexis Sanchez’s staggering demise as Man Utd flop ‘told he can leave’ Inter

The Chile international has played for some of the biggest clubs in European football over the course of his career, but has been deemed surplus to requirements by current side Inter Milan

Former Premier League titan Alexis Sanchez has been told he is free to leave current club Inter Milan, according to reports.

And his latest failure leaves the Chilean looking a shadow of the player who lit up the Premier League in Arsenal colours just a few years ago.

Arsenal ’s 15-year tenure at the Emirates Stadium has hardly been littered with trophies, the mood around the ground particularly sombre in recent years as the Gunners decline into mediocrity stoops lower with each passing match-week.

Few players who have donned the famous red and white shirt have lit up the ground quite to the level of Sanchez – the Chilean international making the switch from Spanish giants Barcelona to north London in the summer of 2014.

Though many touted the forward with greatness from an early age – he was affectionately dubbed ‘El Nino Maravilla’ (the wonder child) – it was not until he joined Arsene Wenger’s side that his talent hit stratospheric level, his time at the Camp Nou overshadowed by the greats he lined up alongside.

For Sanchez, the move to Arsenal represented something similar to his time at Serie A outfit Udinese, the chance to be proverbial ‘big fish’ rather than have his thunder stolen by Lionel Messi and co.

It was a wise choice, Sanchez immediately took to life in the Premier League with relative ease, his first league goal a spectacular side-footed volley against Manchester City in front of the Emirates faithful who would spend the next few years worshipping the Chilean.

Sanchez quickly found a partner in Mesut Ozil, though the contrast in their on-field demeanour was obvious, Ozil’s sunken shoulders and downtrodden image in the wake of defeat was a world apart from Sanchez’s glove-throwing, ferocious and shouty response to a poor showing.

His conduct on the pitch was of little concern to club supporters and staff alike, Sanchez single-handedly winning games for Arsenal at times, never more obviously than his hat-trick away at Leicester City in the same season the Foxes would go on to become champions.

HIs brace in the famous 3-0 home win over Manchester United also lives long in the memory of all who witnessed, both of his goals representing differing strong-suits in Sanchez’s game.

The first a gorgeous back-heeled effort from an Ozil cut-back, the second a fierce right-footed effort lashed beyond a helpless David de Gea who could do little else but dive in vain.

Notable goals against Chelsea and rivals Tottenham Hotspur would swiftly in the seasons after, as Sanchez established himself as one of the most lethal marksmen in the Premier League.

However, while his heroics in front of goal quickly endeared himself to the Gunners fanbase, three years into his time at the club the arm-waving tantrums had worn the patience of his teammates thin.

Then-club captain Laurent Koscielny had reportedly intervened after one training ground dispute, but the writing was on the wall for the forward who made the switch to Manchester United in January of 2018.

Few – if any, players make the move from Arsenal to Man Utd with their reputation among the Gunners crowd intact and Sanchez was no exception.

Though the blow of his departure was softened by the arrival of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the sore sight of Arsenal’s main man in a United strip had once again haunted Gunners fans everywhere – just six years after Robin van Persie made the same switch.

“I looked at the badge and my hairs just stood up on end because it’s a powerful club and the biggest in England,” Sanchez explained to MUTV upon his arrival.

The video uploaded from Man Utd’s official twitter account hardly helped his cause, the footage of Sanchez staring starry-eyed at Old Trafford while ‘Glory, glory Man Utd’ plays in the background all but confirming his bridges in the red half of north London were very much burned.

In the end, it would prove to be all for nothing – 32 Premier League appearances for United saw a feeble return of 3 goals, before he shipped off to current club Inter Milan – on loan originally, before the deal became permanent in August 2020.

Just over a year later and the 32-year-old’s fortunes have fared slightly better than they did at Old Trafford, but not enough in the eyes of the Nerazzurri hierarchy.

A report from Inter Live claims the Serie A champions do not deem Sanchez worth his current wages and are willing to offload him in January, La Liga duo Real Betis and Seville are among those interested.

Quite the fall from grace for a man who was voted PFA Fans Player of the Year in 2015.