I knew my United move was a big mistake from day one
SANCHEZ WANTED TO RIP UP HIS CONTRACT AND MOVE BACK TO ARSENAL AFTER ONE TRAINING SESSION
ALEXIS SANCHEZ has revealed he asked his agent whether he could quit Manchester United and return to Arsenal – after his FIRST training session.
The Chilean forward, now at Inter Milan, made the astonishing confession as he opened up on his failure to transfer his outstanding form in north London to Old Trafford.
Sanchez said: “The first training I had I realised many things. I came home and I asked my representative: ‘ Can’t the contract be terminated to return to Arsenal’?” Excited United fans believed the South American would prove a transformative signing after his free-scoring, inspirational performances at Arsenal.
Instead he managed just five goals under Jose Mourinho in 45 appearances before being loaned to Inter last season and joining them on a free this summer.
“I want to tell you about my period at United, about many things that were said and that made me look bad,” said Sanchez. “I got the opportunity to go to United and it seemed tempting to me.
“It was something nice for me, because, when I was a kid, I liked that club a lot.
“I ended up signing without much information about what was happening.
“The first days I was with my colleagues, sometimes there are things that you do not realise until you arrive.
“After the first training I realised many things, so I asked my representative if the contract could be terminated.
“They started laughing and I told them that something did not sit right with me. But the contract had been signed.”
Sanchez, who had just six months left to run on his Arsenal deal after refusing to sign a new contract, arrived at United in January 2018 as the club’s top-earner.
Having soaked up the United adulation after turning his back on the Gunners, the 31-year-old claims he was made a scapegoat for the Red Devils’ failure.
“I ’m telling you my experience – the journalists at times would speak without knowing the facts and it hurt, they had no idea what was going on inside the club,” he said.
“They said it was my fault, and this and that, but sometimes a player depends on the environment, the family that is created around him, and I think in that moment we weren’t really a family. And that translated on to the pitch, and since there needed to be someone to blame, they blamed me.”
Recalling being dropped from the matchday squad by ex-boss Mourinho against West Ham in September 2018, Sanchez said: “I wasn’t picked. 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 went to my house and was sad. The next day I trained in a double shift because I love what I do.”
United lost to the Hammers and Mourinho was sacked months later.
Sanchez then spoke to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer about leaving the club, adding: “I told him I needed a breather, and the opportunity to go to Inter. He told me that yes, there was no problem.”