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Alexis Sanchez lifts lid on why he left Arsenal for Manchester United

Chile international Alexis Sanchez has stressed that he does not regret leaving Arsenal for Manchester United during the winter transfer window. The 29-year-old was initially tipped to leave the Gunners for Manchester City in January but in a strange change of events, the attacker moved to Old Trafford in a straight swap agreement involving Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

In a report covered by The Express, Sanchez insisted that he is playing his trade for one of the best clubs in England and he is determined to keep improving to lead the club to trophy success, he said: “I believe that United really are a very big club on a worldwide scale and even more so in England, where they are the biggest. They always want to win and to be fighting on all fronts, and that’s the reason I wanted to come here. I also had some great players alongside me when I was at Barcelona, some highly experienced guys who had great quality.

“I think that United are not too dissimilar to them as a club in terms of their size and their stature. Manchester United are a massive club, which always aspires to win big trophies and that is what I’m trying to help make happen. I want to try and keep improving so we can see the club winning trophies.”

Obviously, a lot was expected from the United fans from Sanchez shortly after his winter move but he could not quite live to their expectations. Barring the first few games for the club, Sanchez was often criticised for losing the ball in attacking positions but he was nevertheless a constant under Jose Mourinho during the backend of the campaign.

With no World Cup football to play for, Sanchez has the opportunity to spend a full pre-season of training with the United coaching team and this should likely improve on his overall performances for the club next campaign. Sanchez contributed just three goals and three assists in 18 appearances for Manchester United last term.