OM have a big name. While he had a comfortable role as a “super substitute” at Inter, Alexis Sanchez broke his contract with the Milanese club and put his suitcases on the Old Port. Marseille announced the transfer of the 33-year-old player on Wednesday August 10. A look back at the milestones in the career of the man his teammates at Arsenal nicknamed “Duracell”.
2005-2011: Chile then the plains of Friuli
Alexis Sanchez is first of all a stroke of the kidney. This acceleration ability, the native of Tocopilla works in his country, Chile, in Calama, within his training club, Deportes Cobreloa. In the heart of the Atacama Desert, at an altitude of 2,300 m, where it hardly ever rains, Sanchez is building a warrior’s mind. At 16, the young striker made his professional debut with Cobreloa in February 2005. A month later, he scored the first of his 180 career goals.
A Chilean U17 and U20 international, Sanchez was recruited by Udinese in 2006, which immediately loaned him to Deportico Colo Colo in Santiago. He scored 9 goals in 48 games in the capital, and integrated the A’s with Chile. He plays there with his friend Arturo Vidal. The following year, he left his country for Argentina and River Plate, before flying to Udine, in Italian Friuli.
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Three years later he was voted best player in Serie A, with 12 goals and 10 assists in 31 games for Udinese. The Chilean is courted by all the teams in Europe. In the summer of 2011, he opted for one of the most prestigious and undoubtedly the strongest at that time: FC Barcelona.
2011-2014: Barca, in between
Sanchez arrives in Catalonia just after the departure of Guardiola and the three wonderful years in which the Messi, Iniesta and Xavi have marched on Europe. Lhe first Chilean to play for the Blaugranas makes promising beginnings. The future in Spain looks bright for this dribbler capable of playing on all fronts of the attack, and the quality of the pass perfectly suited to the Barcelona tiki-taka.
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However, for two years, Sanchez is limited by the competition in attack (Lionel Messi, David Villa in particular). After a title of champion of Spain in 2013, his last year is the best statistically (21 goals and 14 assists in 54 games). This does not convince Luis Enrique, new coach of Barça. After having nevertheless registered 47 goals in 141 matches, he left for Arsenal just before the 2014-2015 season, when Barça won the Champions League.
2014-2018: Arsenal, at the top of their game
In the Premier League, Alexis Sanchez will find a crampon at his foot. Perfectly suited to the Gunners’ transition game, he had a dazzling first half of the season. Decisive, “Duracell” was selected to be part of UEFA’s 11th type in 2014. In 2015 and 2016, he won the Copa América twice in a row with Chile. In 2016-17, Sanchez scored 30 goals and provided 18 assists in 51 games in all competitions, finishing third top scorer in the Premier League with 24. It’s the best season of his career.
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But for Arsenal, who finished fifth and missed the C1, it was a cold shower. With the Gunners, Sanchez scored a total of 80 goals in 166 games, his best tally. However, he never won the championship, Arsenal finishing, at best, second (in 2016). He then left the London club in January 2018, the same season as Santi Cazorla, Olivier Giroud and Arsène Wenger, thus marking the end of an era for the Gunners, always looking for a new trigger since.
2018-2022: injuries in Manchester, recovery at Inter, and the new star in Marseille?
When he arrives at Manchester United, Alexis Sanchez finds a starting position, without succeeding in exploiting it. The following season, he was regularly injured, and missed most Champions League games. Frustrated, he then left England to return to Italy in 2019. At Inter Milan, he injured himself before finding himself again, accumulating good performances and actively participating in the revival of the Lombard club.
Mars Studios
Episode IX
✍️ “El Nino Maravilla” #WelcomeToMars Alexis Sanchez pic.twitter.com/wooByhm8sg– Olympique de Marseille (@OM_Officiel) August 10, 2022
His arrival in Marseille will make him the offensive star of his club for the first fois since leaving Udinese. If his speed is no longer the same as when he was 20, his qualities dribbling and passing allow him to concentrate the defenses to orbit the arrows of the attack.
His future association with Arkadiusz Milik and Dimitri Payet portends great promise. Especially since the South American shares with the Marseille public this iron will never to let go of anything on the pitch. The one that notably enabled Alexis Sanchez to become a great player in Italy, Spain, England… and soon in France?