Alexis Alejandro Sánchez Sánchez (Spanish pronunciation: [aˈleksis ˈsantʃes]; born 19 December 1988), also known simply as Alexis, is a Chilean professional footballer who plays as a forward for English club Manchester United and the Chile national team.
Sánchez began his career as a youth player for Cobreloa at age 17, completing a season at the club before relocating to Italy to play for Udinese in 2006. He won his first trophies in the following seasons, winning consecutive league titles in loans spells to Colo-Colo and River Plate. In 2008, he returned to Udinese, becoming an integral member of the team in his first full season at the club. After three fruitful seasons in Italy, Sánchez moved to Barcelona in a transfer worth €30 million (£25 million), becoming the most expensive Chilean player of all time.[7]
In his first season at Barcelona, Sánchez starred in an attacking trio alongside Lionel Messi and David Villa, helping the club win the Copa del Rey, Supercopa de España, UEFA Super Cup, and FIFA Club World Cup. The trio scored a total of 82 goals the following season, as the club won the 2012–13 La Liga, as well as retaining the Supercopa de España, before Sánchez enjoyed his highest scoring return at the Blaugrana, ending the season with a total of 21 goals, and 14 assists. Following the high-profile arrival of Neymar in 2013, Sánchez transferred to Premier League side Arsenal in a deal worth £31.7 million (€35.8 million) a year later.
At Arsenal, Sánchez quickly established himself as the figurehead of the team, completing every season in England with double figures in both goals and assists. He also won the FA Community Shield, as well as the FA Cup on two occasions, scoring in both finals. In the 2016–17 season, Sánchez scored 30 goals and provided 14 assists, his best return as a professional footballer, while going onto being nominated for the FIFPro World XI. However, after lacking “inspiration” at the direction of the club, he signed for rivals Manchester United in a swap deal in 2018.[8]
Popularly dubbed “El Niño Maravilla” (The Wonder Child),[9] Sánchez has been a full international for Chile since 2006, and has earned 119 caps, making him the team’s joint most capped player of all-time, alongside goalkeeper Claudio Bravo.[10] With 39 goals, he is the country’s all-time leading goalscorer.[11] He played in an instrumental role in allowing Chile to reach the final of the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup, while further leading the side to their first international victory at the 2015 Copa América, scoring the winning penalty in the final against Argentina.[12] He later contributed to a repeat of this triumph, aiding in the side’s retention of the trophy at the Copa América Centenario.
When launching their new kit for the 2016–17 season, Arsenal announced that Sánchez will change squad number from 17 to 7, which was vacated by the departing Tomáš Rosický.[87] Sánchez scored his first goal of Arsenal’s campaign and grabbed his first assist in Arsenal’s 3–1 away win over Watford.[88] Sánchez scored his first Champions League goal of the campaign in a 1–1 draw with Paris Saint-Germain on 13 September 2016, latching onto Alex Iwobi’s rebounded shot, to secure Arsenal a point in the French capital.[89][90] Sánchez kept up his spectacular run of form throughout September by netting against Hull, then scoring and grabbing an assist in a 3–0 victory over Chelsea.[91] [92] He scored a brace in a 1–4 win at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light, bringing his total to 50 goals in 106 appearances across all competitions for Arsenal. [93][94] On 22 January 2017, Sánchez scored his first penalty for the club (having missed his previous two) against Burnley in an eventual 2–1 win, which put Arsenal into second place in the Premier League standings.[95][96] Sánchez scored his first goal in the season’s FA Cup, in a 5–0 quarter-final win over Lincoln City, taking his tally to 21 goals for the season in all competitions.[97] Sánchez scored the winning goal in Arsenal’s 2–1 win over Manchester City, to send Arsenal through to their third FA Cup final, in four years.[98][99]
On 13 April, Sánchez was included in the six player shortlist for the PFA Player of the Year.[100] He also, in May 2017, won Arsenal’s Player of the Season award.[101] Sánchez finished off the season by claiming the man-of-the-match award and scoring Arsenal’s opening goal in an eventual 2–1 win over Chelsea in the FA Cup Final, ensuring that Arsenal secured a record 13th FA Cup and that manager Arsène Wenger won a record 7th FA Cup in the process.[102][103]
Sánchez returned from the 2017 Confederations Cup with an injury, and therefore had to miss the team’s victory over Chelsea in the 2017 FA Community Shield and the team’s opening 4–3 win over Leicester City. Sánchez’ first start of the season came in the 4–0 away defeat to Liverpool.[104] Sánchez’ first goal for the team came in Arsenal’s 3–1 UEFA Europa League victory over German side Köln, in which Sánchez picked the ball up outside the penalty area and curled a shot past goalkeeper Timo Horn, to score the Gunner’s second goal of the evening. His performance was praised by Arsène Wenger, who said: “I think Sánchez is still running after his best form. He is a fantastic football player but physically he has just come back. But he has it in his locker to do something special, which he did.”[105] Sánchez made his first appearance in the season’s EFL Cup in Arsenal’s 1–0 win over Doncaster Rovers, in which Sánchez grabbed his first assist of the season, by delivering a cross-field pass which Theo Walcott subsequently put past Doncaster goalkeeper, Ian Lawlor.[106] Sánchez played in Arsenal’s 0–1 win over Burnley. Sánchez scored the decisive and controversial injury-time penalty to send Arsenal above bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur.[107] Sánchez continued his fine goalscoring form by scoring Arsenal’s third goal in a 5–0 rout of Huddersfield Town, meaning Sánchez had netted three times in three games.
In Chile’s first match of 2018 World Cup qualification on 9 October 2015, Sánchez scored in a 2–0 win over Brazil, Chile’s first victory against the opponents since 2000.[125] Four days later, he scored twice in a 4–3 win at rivals Peru.
