Alexis Sanchez Talks Manchester United Exit, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer Omissions

Alexis Sanchez has said he wasn't sure why manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer opted against giving him more chances at Manchester United. 

Sanchez, who has since joined Inter Milan on loan for the upcoming season, has struggled to find form since moving to Old Trafford from Arsenal in January 2018. The Chilean was unable to make an impact under both Jose Mourinho, who brought him to the club, and Solskjaer, who succeeded the Portuguese in December last year.

Speaking about his time at United, Sanchez said he was left frustrated by the manner in which he was frozen out of the side, despite having a strong Copa America, per Simon Stone of BBC Sport:

"I think that I'm happy when I play for my national team. I was happy at Manchester United too, but I've always said to my friends: I want to play. If they would let me play I'll do my best. Sometimes I'd play 60 minutes then I wouldn't play the next game—and I didn't know why.

"...I felt fine. After that, it [not playing any pre-season games] depended on the coach to let me play. You need to ask him this question, not me."

Per Stone, during his time at United the forward started 31 of a possible 77 games and was only on the field for 90 minutes in 13 of those.

Sanchez was also asked if he had any regrets about leaving the Gunners, where he was considered one of the Premier League's best players, for United.

"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," he said. "I wanted to join them and win everything":

When the Chilean made the move from Arsenal to United, as part of the deal Henrikh Mkhitaryan was transferred in the opposite direction.

After Mkhitaryan's loan move from the Gunners to Roma, the swap deal doesn't look likely to work out for either player:

Like Mkhitaryan, Sanchez will be hoping to rediscover his form in Serie A, with his career stalling in unexpected fashion at Old Trafford.

The Chilean has followed his former United team-mate Romelu Lukaku to the San Siro to work under a world-class coach in Antonio Conte. Lukaku has netted in both of his appearances for Inter so far and appears rejuvenated by a new challenge.

Italian football writer David Amoyal noted that Conte has wanted the forwards for a while:

After the summer's Copa America and no pre-season football, Inter supporters may have to wait a while before they see Sanchez properly.

For the player, a transfer seemed necessary this summer. While you sense the 31-year-old will find it hard to recapture the form he showed at Arsenal, by leaving United to play regular football he's at least given himself a chance to do so.