Inter striker Alexis Sanchez has revealed that leaving Manchester United for the Nerazzurri has helped him fall in love with football once again.
The Chilean netted just three goals in 32 Premier League appearances for the Red Devils after joining from Arsenal in 2018.
As a result he was allowed to join Inter on a season-long loan, and after netting and being sent off in his first start against Sampdoria over the weekend, he admits he has a new outlook after struggling at United.
“It was a bit like falling in love with football again,” Sanchez told UEFA.com.
“I already knew the coach and some players, and I think the club is preparing something nice for the future.
“If I’m not mistaken, Inter haven’t won anything for seven or eight years.
“Yes, it was a bit like finding love for football, together with the desire to win something with this club.
“I believe the coach wants to win everything. You can see it from how we train and how we play games. He conveys his desire to the players and is positive for both the club and the team in general.”
The Nerazzurri take on Barcelona in the Champions League on Wednesday, and Sanchez had nothing but good things to say about his time with the Catalan side.
“When I arrived, there was talk that it might be the best Barcelona [team] in history,” he added.
“There were [Pep] Guardiola, [Lionel] Messi, Xavi, [Andrés] Iniesta and [Carles] Puyol, who is the best captain I’ve ever known in my career.
“It was great. Barcelona taught me a different style of play, based on ball possession. Plus, I had team-mates you could give the ball to, knowing that then they would give it back to you perfectly.
“If you train with such strong players you can only improve. I try to improve myself every day and this helped me grow as a player.
“At Barcelona I learned a lot, in the sense that I grew up. There were great players who had won the World Cup and they allowed me to improve day after day, even physically.”
Source: forzaitalianfootball.com