page_title: Alexis Sánchez
section_title: Arsenal
hierarchical_section_title: Alexis Sánchez / Club career / Arsenal
caption_attribution_description: Alexis Sanchez playing for Arsenal in UEFA Champions League play-off against Besiktas in 2014
context_page_description: Alexis Alejandro Sánchez Sánchez, also known simply as Alexis, is a Chilean professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie A club Inter Milan and the Chile national team. He is popularly dubbed "El Niño Maravilla".
  Sánchez began his career as a youth player for Cobreloa at age 17, before relocating to Italy to play for Udinese in 2006. He won consecutive league titles in loans spells to Colo-Colo and River Plate. In 2008, he returned to Udinese and became an integral member of the team. After three seasons in at the club, Sánchez moved to Barcelona in a transfer worth €30 million, becoming the most expensive Chilean player of all time. In his first season at Barcelona, Sánchez starred in an attacking trio alongside Lionel Messi and David Villa. The trio scored a total of 82 goals the following season, as the club won the 2012–13 La Liga. In 2014, Sánchez transferred to Premier League side Arsenal, where he quickly established himself as the figurehead of the team, winning the FA Community Shield, as well as the FA Cup on two occasions, and scoring in both finals.
context_section_description: On 10 July 2014, Sánchez signed for Arsenal on a long-term contract for a transfer fee of £31.7 million. Sánchez was given the squad number 17, previously worn by Nacho Monreal, who took the vacant number 18 instead. In a statement released by the club, Sánchez said that he was "so happy to be joining Arsenal, a club which has a great manager, a fantastic squad of players, huge support around the world and a great stadium in London". Manager Arsène Wenger praised Sánchez, saying that the Chilean international "has consistently produced top-quality performances at the highest level for a number of seasons now and we are all excited to see him integrate into the Arsenal squad." Sánchez made his first appearance for Arsenal on 2 August 2014, as a substitute during a 5–1 win against Benfica in the pre-season Emirates Cup tournament.
caption: Sánchez with Arsenal in 2014
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 7D", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Aperture 3.5.1", "Image DateTime": "2014:08:27 20:33:20", "Image Artist": "Ronnie Macdonald", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image Copyright": "ronniemacdonald@gmail.com", "Image ExifOffset": "274", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/500", "EXIF FNumber": "8", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "4000", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF RecommendedExposureIndex": "4000", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2014:08:27 20:33:20", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2014:08:27 20:33:20", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "9", "EXIF ApertureValue": "6", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "8376/1481", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Partial", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "200", "EXIF SubSecTime": "11", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "11", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "11", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4617", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3078", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "62871/11", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "331079/57", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[18, 200, 0, 0]", "EXIF LensModel": "EF-S18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS"}