"I wanted to terminate my contract following the mega transfer and regret joining Manchester United."

After his first training session, Alexis Sanchez expressed a desire to end his time with Manchester United.

The erratic forward, who moved from Barcelona to Arsenal in 2014, made an immediate impression after arriving in English football. He won the FA Cup and scored 25 goals in his first season with the Gunners, earning him the club's Player of the Year award.

The Chilean star returned with a bang, scoring 24 goals the next season after a second season that didn't quite reach the same heights. Sanchez attracted the attention of Manchester City and United and soon established himself as a vital member of Arsene Wenger's team.

The attacker controversially decided to move to Old Trafford after City withdrew their transfer bid for him, while Henrikh Mkhitaryan took the opposite route. At the moment, Jose Mourinho's team was quite excited about the star's high-profile transfer.

But in retrospect, Sanchez, who turned 36 this week, said that he felt instant regret for switching teams between two Premier League rivals. In 2020, he spoke out, saying: "I took advantage of the chance to visit United.

"It was something positive for me, and it felt alluring. When I was a child, I really enjoyed this group. I signed in the end, but I didn't enquire about what was going on inside the club.

"There are instances when you don't notice something until you get there. I recall learning a lot on my first training session.

"When I got home from the session, I asked my agent and family, 'Can you not tear up the contract to go back to Arsenal?'" They chuckled. I informed them that something didn't seem right and that it didn't sit well.

However, I was already there and had already signed. I continued to feel the same way after the first few months. At that time, we weren't working together as a team.

Prior to the transfer, Sanchez had seven league goals, but after his mid-season move, he was only able to muster two more, and he also lost to Chelsea in the FA Cup final. According to the Manchester Evening News, the following season turned out to be a complete nightmare.

The striker's confidence was badly damaged when Mourinho benched him for a game against West Ham after he struggled to score in the first six league games of the new season. Sanchez, who according to the BBC was on a lucrative four-and-a-half-year contract paying £14 million a year after taxes, said: "I wasn't picked in a game with West Ham.

"As a footballer, I had never experienced that. I said it couldn't be possible because it bothered me. to stop playing for five months after being among the best in the Premier League. I was really depressed when I got home. Because I enjoy what I do, I trained in a double shift the next day.

Sanchez put in more work on the training pitch, but his performance did not improve that season. He was only able to score twice in all competitions due to a hamstring ailment that limited his play. In 2020, he finally completed a permanent move to Inter Milan after spending the following season on loan in Italy.

Before spending a season with Marseille and returning in 2023, Sanchez remained with Inter Milan until 2022. He has come a long way from his heyday in north London, and he is now tying his boots for Udinese.