Jose Mourinho admits Alexis Sanchez was 'not happy' during his time at Manchester United and says his former player's 'natural habitat' is in Italy as the forward impresses with Inter Milan
* Alexis Sanchez scored a stunner for Inter Milan against Jose Mourinho's Roma
* Before the clash, Mourinho spoke to his former player from Manchester United
* He has admitted the forward was 'not happy' during difficult Old Trafford spell
* Sanchez scored just five goals in 45 United matches before joining Inter on loan
* Mourinho also believes Sanchez's 'natural habitat' is in Italy, where he is starring
Jose Mourinho has admitted that Alexis Sanchez was 'not happy' during his time at Manchester United, and believes the forward's 'natural habitat' is in Italy with the forward continuing to impress this season with Inter Milan.
Sanchez joined United in January 2018 after becoming one of the Premier League's finest players at Arsenal, but failed to hit his previous heights - having scored a measly five goals in 45 games.
His old club were also guilty of paying him just over £500,000-a-week, and the winger's time at Old Trafford only came to an end when he joined Inter Milan on loan for the 2019/20 campaign before signing permanently.
The final two years of his lucrative deal at United were chalked off after he put pen to paper in Milan, where he has enjoyed a resurgence in recent months.
The final two years of his lucrative deal at United were chalked off after he put pen to paper in Milan, where he has enjoyed a resurgence in recent months.
Jose Mourinho admitted Alexis Sanchez was 'not happy' during his Manchester United spell. Sanchez netted just five goals in 45 games for United before departing for Inter Milan on loan. Previously, Mourinho has also labelled Sanchez as 'not a happy man' and wished him well
Mourinho took charge of Sanchez during the first 12 months of his time at United, and has revealed he spoke with the player ahead of Milan's 2-0 victory over his Roma outfit on Tuesday.
That win, which also saw Sanchez score a stunning goal, booked the Italian champions a spot in the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia.
'I spoke with him [Sanchez] at the start of the match,' Mourinho said.
'In England he was not happy, it was not his natural habitat, it is here.'
Sanchez has scored 17 goals over two-and-a-half seasons at Milan, with six of those arriving this term.
Previously, Mourinho said that the Chilean was 'not a happy man' at United, and explained that this may have been a key factor behind his struggles in England.
Sanchez came back to haunt his former boss after scoring a stunning effort agains Roma. The superb goal saw Mourinho's Roma side crash out of the Coppa Italia in the quarter-finals
'Sanchez… I felt him [to be] not a happy man,' he told The Telegraph.
'And I think in every job you have when you are not happy it is not so easy to perform at every level. And maybe I am wrong. Maybe it was me who was not capable to get into him and to get the best out of him.
'As a manager sometimes you have the capacity to get the best out of the players and other times you are not successful in that approach.
'But the reality is that I always felt [of Sanchez], "a sad man". So probably in Italy he will recover this. I hope he can. I always wish well to every player.'
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