Alexis Sanchez tells Man City they would have won the Champions League had he joined them against Manchester United

Alexis Sanchez claimed he would have won the Champions League with Manchester City against Manchester United.

The Chile international controversially left Arsenal in 2018 to join rivals United in January as his contract entered the final year.

City were also interested in his services at the time, but Sanchez opted to move to Old Trafford instead, signing a lucrative £375,000-a-week contract.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan went the other way, but the striker never really settled at United and he scored just three Premier League goals in two seasons at the club.

It’s fair to say his time at Manchester didn’t go well, but he insisted that had he moved to the Etihad they would have won the Champions League.

“I was about to go to City. I spoke to Guardiola every day, he said happy birthday to me. He was like my father. He was my father at Barcelona and he was like my father at City,” Sanchez told TVN, as reported by La Tercera and Sport Witness.

“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 Wenger tells me that you are not leaving because the other player didn’t want to come and he doesn’t have another.

“Suddenly the cell phone rings. Mourinho said to me: ‘Alexis, here are the seven available for you.’

“It wasn’t about the money, so everyone knows that. It was the same with United and City.

“And he told me here is the seven, we are playing in the Champions League and we are going to give it our all.

“I wanted to leave at that time, but I had Guardiola’s word.

“That’s when I said to myself, Chilean footballer playing for Manchester United, something that has never happened.

“With Cantona’s seven, 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 go to City, yes.

“We would have already won the Champions League. In the [2021 Champions League] Finally, I would have done something.

Sanchez left United after two miserable years on loan at Inter Milan before making the move permanent in 2020.

The Chilean rekindled some of his goalscoring touch but never quite found the heights he found at Arsenal, where he netted 80 times in 166 games.

However, since joining Marseille last summer, Sanchez has been in fine form and has scored 16 times this season.