Udinese dream of Alexis Sanchez's return

Alexis Sanchez's career is entering a key moment. At the age of 35 and after a poor return to Inter Milan marked by injuries, his future is unknown. Whether he will return to play in South America, the Saudi Pro League... or to continue in Europe, where there is a club eager to have him back: Udinese.

Back in 2008, the Italian side signed the winger when he was a star at River Plate and he played for three seasons. He scored 21 goals in 112 games and caught the eye of FC Barcelona, who paid 26 million euros for him in 2011. More than a decade later, his return to Udine is treated more as an illusion than a reality, but nothing is ruled out.

Udinese sporting director Gianluca Nani spoke to 'Sky Sport' about the rumour. "I have been answering this question for a long time and I think it would be right not to create false expectations. Alexis gave his all at Udinese and did very well, but so far we haven't had a clear chance to sign him," he said.

Nevertheless, he keeps the door open: "I don't rule anything out. We might have that opportunity in the future, but I don't want to create expectations about something that might never happen. All this illusion has also been fuelled by the Italian press and the words of Pasquale Marino, the first coach that the tocopillano had in Friuli, who defended that he is still ready to play in the top flight.

"Although he is 35 years old, he is still intact. Maybe he won't play all 38 games in a season, but he is capable of coping because players of that quality know how to do it. Alexis is a leader, when the ball is burning he asks for it to be decisive. He has always been like that and these things don't get lost with age," said his former coach. For the moment, Alexis Sanchez is training at the Juan Pinto Duran Sports Complex of the Chilean Federation while waiting to resolve his future, which does not include a move to Inter Milan.