Manchester United winger Alexis Sanchez revealed that he supported the club in his youth before pledging to prove his doubters wrong at the Theatre of Dreams.
The Chilean attacker has endured a nightmare year at Old Trafford since his January 2018 transfer from Arsenal, scoring just five goals in 41 appearances across all competitions.
Alexis Sanchez has pledged to ‘bring joy’ to Manchester United fans and revealed his dreams of winning a trophy with the club.
The Chile international has struggled to find any consistency at Old Trafford since his move from Arsenal a year ago and has failed to live up to the hype which surrounded his high-profile transfer.
However, despite his struggles on the pitch this hasn’t deterred the 30-year-old from insisting that he can turnaround his fortunes at United.
Sanchez has thanked fans for their continued support at the club and believes that bringing them a trophy to celebrate would be the perfect way of repaying them.
“Obviously, I want to make the United fans really happy,” Sanchez told said . “I want to score goals. I want to bring them joy. I want to win silverware.
“When we lost last year’s FA Cup final to Chelsea, I was not happy. Not happy at all. In fact, I was sad because I just wanted to make our wonderful supporters happy.
“The goal there [at Wembley] against Tottenham comes to mind. It was such a great moment because the United fans were right on top of us and it was a lovely moment to be able to celebrate along with them.
“When I was younger, I liked United. I swear. As a small child, I liked United. I really liked them. And I want to show this and bring the people joy because, obviously, I want to win.
“I want to keep showing my love for football. I know what I can do. I have belief in my ability. United are such an important club, not only in England but on a global level and I would love to help bring a trophy to the supporters.”
Sanchez’s finest form came in an Arsenal shirt, where he impressed consistently under Arsene Wenger after joining from Barcelona in 2014.
Born in Tocopilla in northern Chile, Sanchez admits he never imagined he would enjoy a successful career in Europe.
“It’s a small city,” he said. “Listen, I love football. I love football! My passion is football. My other passions are my dogs and my family. They mean everything to me.
Everything. Growing up, I always wanted to be a professional footballer – but in Chile. Always in Chile. I never dreamed of coming here to Europe. Never.
“It was always the Chilean league for me but my footballing journey continued and I played in Argentina and Italy. After that, I was like: ‘Wow, this is football! I love football!”