In a recent interview, Alexis Sanchez claimed that if he had joined Manchester City instead of Manchester United in 2018, they would have won the Champions League by now. The Chilean forward left Arsenal in 2018 as his contract was about to expire and joined United in a highly controversial move. City were also interested in signing him at the time, but Sanchez opted for Old Trafford and signed a lucrative £375,000-a-week deal. Henrikh Mkhitaryan went the other way, but Sanchez never settled at United and scored just three Premier League goals in two seasons.
Sanchez revealed that he was very close to joining City and had regular conversations with Pep Guardiola, who he referred to as his dad. Guardiola had coached Sanchez at Barcelona and was keen to bring him to City. However, Wenger blocked the move as he did not want to let Sanchez go without a replacement. Mourinho then made an offer to Sanchez, which he accepted, despite his desire to join City.
Sanchez admitted that it was not a money issue and that he would have liked to join City. He said that playing for Manchester United was a dream come true, especially wearing the iconic number seven shirt previously worn by Cantona, Beckham, and Ronaldo. However, he believes that if he had joined City, they would have won the Champions League by now.
Sanchez left United after two miserable years and spent a season on loan at Inter Milan before making the move permanent in 2020. He never found his form at United but has been in flying form since joining Marseille last summer, scoring 16 times this season.
In conclusion, Sanchez’s claim that he would have won the Champions League with Manchester City over Manchester United is debatable. While City have been more successful than United in recent years, winning the Premier League four times in the last five seasons, they have not won the Champions League yet. United, on the other hand, have won the Champions League three times in the last two decades, most recently in 2008. It is impossible to predict what would have happened if Sanchez had joined City, but it is clear that his time at United was a disappointment.
