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Former Manchester United player Paul Ince believes Alexis Sanchez regrets signing for the Red Devils instead of joining local rivals Manchester City.
The Chilean has spent the 2019/20 season on loan with Inter Milan but has managed just 15 appearances and one goal during his time at the San Siro, meaning it is highly unlikely that the Italian giants will look to offer him a permanent deal.
The 31-year-old will therefore return to Old Trafford at the end of the current campaign, where he still has two years remaining on his gigantic contract worth £500,000 a week before tax.
United brought in Sanchez in a high-profile exchange swap deal for Henrikh Mkhitaryan in January 2018, the huge wages on offer at Old Trafford seeing the Red Devils win the day ahead of initial interest from Pep Guardiola's Manchester City.
Ince believes United will have expected Sanchez to have a similar impact at the club as Bruno Fernandes has in his first few months at the club, while also suggesting the Chilean will be kicking himself after not signing for the blue half of Manchester.
"Going to United was a mistake," Ince told Paddy Power.
"I bet Alexis wishes he'd gone to City, like he was supposed to.
"United was never, ever the right move for him; the team wasn’t settled and their style of play wasn't conducive to him.
"And he was clearly desperate to make an impact. Look at the way Bruno Fernandes has hit the ground running at Old Trafford, that's what Sanchez wanted, and was expected to do.
"But he didn't get a lot of game time, he was used out of position, so when he did play he started to come deeper and deeper to get on the ball, to try and influence the game, and that wasn’t his game."
Ince, however, reckons Sanchez could yet salvage his career at Old Trafford, saying earlier this week: "I wouldn't rule out Sanchez going back to United and being a key part of their team next season. Football is a funny old game.
"I've been in the situation as a manager where I've thought 'right, I'm going to get rid of him and him' but when it comes to it you can't get the deal done, so they stay at the club.
"Then pre-season comes around and they're a totally different player to the season before, and they're your key man the next season. So Sanchez could definitely go back to United, look fantastic in training, and bang suddenly he's important to their plans after all."
- TEAMtalk media
