‘I don’t regret leaving Arsenal – but I felt like a caged animal at Inter Milan’
The former Arsenal striker has no regrets about leaving north London but has failed to find a real place in Italy.
Alexis Sanchez spent four years at Arsenal before later joining Italy.(Image: Jamie McDonald/Getty Images)
Alexis Sanchez doesn’t regret leaving Arsenal for Manchester United, but felt like a ‘caged animal’ at Inter Milan. Two of Chile’s old clubs will face off in the Champions League on Tuesday night as Mikel Arteta’s side travel to the San Siro aiming to extend their lead at the summit.
Sanchez has won major honors with both clubs, including two FA Cups with the Gunners and every available domestic trophy with Inter. The 37-year-old spent four seasons in north London, scoring 80 goals and providing 44 assists in 166 appearances before joining Old Trafford.
At the time, Sanchez had no shame in swapping one Premier League giant for another as he believed he would have more success in Manchester. The striker told BBC Sport: “I’m very happy I went to Manchester United. They’re the most winning club in England.
“When I went to Arsenal it was fantastic, I was happy there, but United were growing at the time, they were buying players to win something. I wanted to join them and win everything. I don’t regret going there.”
However, his time at United did not go as he had hoped. Sanchez added: “I think I’m happy when I play for my national team. I was happy at Manchester United too, but I always told my friends that I wanted to play.
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“If they let me play, I would do my best. Sometimes I would play 60 minutes, then I wouldn’t play the next game – and I didn’t know why.”
After scoring five goals in 45 appearances for United, Sanchez was loaned to Inter before joining the Italian side on a free transfer in 2020. In 142 appearances for Inter, the striker scored 24 goals, assisted 28 times and won Serie A twice.
He also won the Supercoppa and Coppa Italia, but admitted to feeling like “a lion in a cage” due to a lack of play at times. After scoring Inter’s winning goal in the Supercoppa final against Juventus in 2022, Sanchez pleaded for more starts in Italy.
He told Sport Mediaset: “I always said I felt like a lion in a cage, I wasn’t playing! Conte came in one day and said: ‘No one else is like you.’
“He put me on for the last 15 minutes and said I would make the difference. I said, ‘Put me on earlier, I can make the difference then too! It’s the roar of the lion!’
“Champions are like that, the more they play, the better they feel. The more champions play, the better they are. If they let me play, I’m a monster.
“I played against Lazio, I thought I would play today because I was in good form, but the coach made that decision. I was hungry and I wanted to win something tonight! We are on the right track with the right players and we must continue like this.”
Sanchez’s career never reached the same heights after leaving England in 2020, despite winning in Italy. Sanchez would leave Inter in 2022, play for Marseille and return to Milan for another year before spending a year at Udinese and eventually moving to Sevilla in Spain.
This season, the 37-year-old has made 16 appearances, scoring just two goals and providing one assist. Sanchez admitted he had no plans to stay in Italy long-term, even if the club wanted him to.
“I was happy. But even if they had offered me an extension, I wouldn’t have stayed another season,” he said. “Everyone was spectacular with me. I want to thank the city of Milan. I went to Inter, who hadn’t won trophies for a while before I arrived, and then we won the Scudetto. I always like to fight in life, and why not dream?”
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