Alexis Sanchez has spoken at length about how he would have won the UEFA Champions League with Manchester City if he had joined them instead of Manchester United in 2018.

The Chilean arrived in England in 2014 from Barcelona, joining Arsenal off the back of a stellar FIFA World Cup campaign.

Sanchez cemented his place as one of the Premier League’s finest players during his first three seasons with the Gunners, but sought to leave in the summer of 2017 with one year left on his contract.

He was continually linked with a reunion with ex-Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola at Man City. A deal looked to be in the works late in the window, but Arsenal’s moves to replace him collapsed and the transfer fell apart – Raheem Sterling and Thomas Lemar were heavily linked with switches to the Emirates Stadium.

When the January window rolled around, Man City were again hopeful of signing Sanchez, but they were beaten to a deal by Man Utd.

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In an interview with TVN, Chile’s public broadcaster, Sanchez discussed this transfer saga.

“I was about to go to City. I spoke to Guardiola every day, he told me happy birthday. He was like my dad, He was my dad at Barcelona and he was like my dad at City,” Sanchez began.

“We talked, we talked every day, he sent me messages. And everything was ready, there was a player who was going to go to Arsenal. Then [Arsene] Wenger tells me you are not leaving because the other player did not want to come and they do not have another.

“Suddenly, the cell phone rings. [Jose] Mourinho tells me: ‘Alexis, here is the [number] seven available for you’.

“It wasn’t a money thing, so everyone knows. It was the same with United and City. And he said to me ‘here is the seven, we are playing in the Champions League and we are going to give everything’. I wanted to leave at that moment, but I had Guardiola’s word.

“That’s when I said to myself, a Chilean footballer playing for Manchester United, something that has never happened. With the seven of [Eric] Cantona, [David] Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo and now a Chilean had it, it was a dream.

“I don’t regret going to United, things happen for a reason. I would have liked to have gone to City, yes. We would have won the Champions League by now. In the final I would have done something.”

There were huge expectations for Sanchez at Man Utd, particularly after he was so prolific in Arsenal teams which underwhelmed for the most part.

Mourinho’s side needed a fresh injection of energy to reignite a flailing 2017/18 season, but were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League at the last 16 stage by Sevilla and lost the FA Cup final to a Chelsea team that finished three places behind Man Utd in the Premier League table.

Sanchez would score just five goals in 45 games for Man Utd before joining Inter, helping them win Serie A in 2021.

He now plays for Marseille in Ligue 1.

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On this edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders, Graeme Bailey & Toby Cudworth discuss the race to sign Jude Bellingham, Antonio Conte’s Tottenham future, Roy Hodgson’s return to Crystal Palace, Erling Haaland’s contract, Mason Mount & more!

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England defender Harry Maguire has revealed he will head to Euro 2024 with the mindset that anything less than winning the competition will be a failure.

The Three Lions have cemented their status as a strong tournament team over the last half-decade under the guidance of Gareth Southgate.

After reaching the FIFA World Cup semi-finals in 2018, England were only denied victory at Euro 2020 on penalties against Italy in the final.

There were high hopes that they could go all the way at the 2022 World Cup over the winter, but were narrowly beaten by reigning champions France in a hard-fought quarter-final.

England kicked off their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign with a 2-1 win at Italy, and speaking to the press post-match, Maguire revealed his ambitions for glory in Germany next summer.

“I think for me, at my age as well, 30 years old now, I’m with a mindset of, ‘If we don’t win the tournament, it’s been a failure’,” he said.

“We’ve got to qualify first – I mean it’s a tough group, [but] we’ve come here and got an amazing result.

“But that’s my mindset. I’ve been at three major tournaments now and I’ve come so close. I believe we have the players to win it. We went into Qatar wanting to win the tournament. So ultimately, when we get knocked out, as a squad we’re disappointed. The performances were good, we kept the most clean sheets at the tournament, we were one of the top goalscorers despite going out in the quarter-final.

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“I’m speaking on behalf of myself but I know from speaking to the other lads as well, they were really pleased that Gareth stayed [on as manager]. We’ve built something as a group and he’s been the leader of it. He’s been the one who’s given us hope and given us belief as a country to be successful in these major tournaments and, for sure, it benefits us for us for him to be in charge.

“These big tournaments are decided on the finest margins. We played really well in the World Cup and ultimately, we got knocked out by a good French team. A French team that we believe we can take on and if we play them ten times, we would give them a good game ten times and probably win more than we lose.

“However, they’ve proven over the years that they manage to get the job done better than England do. So it’s something that we’re working on. We have so much talent and so many young players coming through.”

Maguire recognised that England were simply beaten at the 2022 World Cup by a more experienced and successful international side in France.

Despite reservations over Didier Deschamps, the 54-year-old has an incredible tournament record – to have won one final and lost two others is a far better record than most other coaches in the history of football.

England hope to be on a similar path with Southgate, but as Maguire insisted, they need to win a tournament if they’re to be remembered fondly and without tinges of regret.

Manchester United captain Harry Maguire has suggested that he is not as appreciated at club level as he is for England.

Maguire made the switch to the Red Devils for £80m back in 2019 and has since divided opinion after being named the skipper less than a year later. This season, he was quickly dropped by incoming United manager Erik ten Hag in favour of Raphael Varane and summer signing Lisandro Martinez.

At international level however, the centre-back has been one of England’s most dependable performers under Gareth Southgate, playing a major role in the Three Lions’ deep tournament runs over the last five years.

Maguire started for England in Thursday’s 2-1 win at Italy in Euro 2024 qualifying. He didn’t cover himself in glory for the Azzurri’s goal but stood tall late on to help grind out the victory.

Speaking to the media post-match, Maguire was asked if he feels ‘properly appreciated’.

“For England, yes, I do,” he replied. “Obviously, last season was difficult for the club, but, listen, I’ve proven myself to Gareth, who works with a wide range of centre backs. He has the choice of all the English centre-backs in the country and I play, every time I’m available, I’ve been in the team.

“I’m sure if you ask the rest of the lads they know what I bring to the team. I’m 30 years old but I shouldn’t really need to prove myself at this level. I’ve over 50 caps. I’m England’s top-scoring defender.

“I’ve played nearly 200 times for Manchester United, I’ve captained the club for three years now, but I do also understand that when you’re the captain of Manchester United you do come under the most amount of scrutiny. Last season at club level, my performance wasn’t good enough, alongside everybody else at club level, not just myself struggled. Everyone else struggled.”

Maguire recognises that he has not always been at his best while wearing a United shirt.

He was an easy scapegoat during their dreadful 2021/22 season in which they recorded their lowest ever points tally in the Premier League era.

That said, Maguire has also failed to kick on and if anything has taken several steps backwards after what was a promising first half to 2021, emerging as one of the league’s leading centre-backs and playing out of his skin while unfit in England’s run to the Euro 2020 final.

His case hasn’t been helped by his outward need silence critics, notably scoring for England and sticking his fingers in his ears as a celebration amid his decline for United.