Alexis Sanchez
Alexis Sanchez was a frustrated figure at Manchester United despite impressing for Chile at Copa America. Image Credit: Reuters

London: Alexis Sanchez believes his failure to shine in a dismal 18 months at Manchester United before joining Inter Milan on loan was due to a lack of opportunities.

The Chilean moved to Italy on a 10-month loan deal last week with United still paying a large chunk of his £400,000-a-week wages.

Sanchez failed to live up to the expectations United had when signing him from Arsenal on a four-and-a-half year contract in January 2018, scoring just five times in 45 appearances for United.

However, he started just 31 of 77 games the Red Devils played during his time there and played the full 90 minutes on just 13 occasions.

“I’ve always said to my friends: I want to play,” Sanchez told the BBC.

“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.”