Alexis Sanchez arrived at Manchester United in 2018 as one of the most feared forwards on the continent. His final campaign at Arsenal had yielded an extraordinary 24 league goals alongside 10 assists across 38 matches.
The Chilean’s switch to Old Trafford carried enormous weight of expectation. Yet the reality proved starkly different from the outset.
Sanchez disclosed in 2020 that he knew something was wrong from his very first training session at the club.
So immediate was his sense of unease that he went home and pleaded with his agent to tear up the deal and send him back to the Gunners.
Alexis Sanchez joined Manchester United in 2018 in one of the shock transfers of the decade
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What followed was a catastrophic decline for a player who had been considered among Europe’s elite attacking talents just months earlier.
In his own words, Sanchez explained the allure of the move: “I accepted the opportunity to go to United, it felt tempting and it was something good for me.
“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.”
The forward described the moment doubt set in. “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,” he said.
“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.”
That discomfort never faded. “After the first few months, I carried on having the same feeling. We weren’t united as a team in that moment,” Sanchez added.
Alexis Sanchez knew from the first training session he was not going to enjoy his time at United
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The transfer had been accompanied by significant fanfare. José Mourinho, then in charge at Old Trafford, hailed Sanchez as one of the finest attacking players on the planet.
United marked the signing with an announcement video that has since become infamous. The clip featured Sanchez performing ‘Glory Glory Man United’ on a piano positioned in the centre of the Old Trafford pitch — a piece of content widely regarded as deeply embarrassing in hindsight.
That video, rather than any on-pitch contribution, is arguably the most enduring memory of his spell at the club. His output in a United shirt was remarkably poor.
The Chilean managed a mere three league goals across two seasons before eventually departing for Inter Milan, leaving behind one of the most underwhelming transfer records in the club’s modern history.
Former Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger offered his own diagnosis of what went wrong with the player he once coached.
“The strength of Alexis Sanchez is to show initiative, to dribble, to take people on,” Wenger said.
Arsene Wenger offered his own diagnosis of what went wrong with the player he once coached
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“These players are the most vulnerable when they have no confidence anymore because their game is based on feeling free to take the initiative. He had a high level of physical energy and he has lost that as well.”
The winger’s self-belief had simply vanished, according to his former boss.
Despite the Old Trafford nightmare, Sanchez has continued playing professionally. Now 37, the Chilean recently joined MLS side CF Montreal.
His time at United, however, stands as one of the most spectacular transfer failures the club has endured in recent memory.
