Inter Milan have reportedly offered former Arsenal and Manchester United forward Alexis Sanchez to Everton on a free transfer – but talkSPORT has been told it would be surprise to see him move this month.
Sanchez left Manchester United on a free transfer to join Inter Milan on a three-year deal back in August 2020 and has made 87 appearances for the Serie A side.
Sanchez is yet to recover the stunning form he had at the Emiratesgetty
The Chile international had previously been on loan at Inter the season prior to moving to Italy permanently and received a pay-off from United, after agreeing to waive the final two years of his £560k-per-week contract.
Although the former Arsenal star has scored 14 goals for Inter, Sanchez has struggled with injuries and a lack of regular first team football.
Now it is being reported that the Italian champions are willing to offload Sanchez on a free to Premier League side Everton – despite having over a year left on his contract.
Rafa Benitez’s Toffees have struggled so far this season, currently sitting eight points off the relegation places in the Premier League and winning just once since September – against Sanchez’s former side, Arsenal.
Given that Everton are unable to spend big due to financial fair play issues, and striker Dominic Calvert Lewin is only just coming back from injury, signing Sanchez could prove useful to the Spanish boss.
However, Inter Milan currently only have a slim one point lead over rivals AC Milan at the head of the table.
So if the Seria A side decide to prioritise squad depth, Simone Inzaghi may keep hold of the Chilean in their fight for the top spot.
Everton have been struck with injury problems this campaign, with Andros Townsend and Dominic Calvert-Lewin being amongst those sidelinedGETTY
Sanchez became a fan favourite during his three-and-a-half years at Arsenal, scoring 80 goals – however he couldn’t recreate his form at Old Trafford, scoring just 5 times in 18 monthsGETTY
Speaking on talkSPORT’s Hawksbee and Jacob’s show on Monday, European football expert Andy Brassell expressed doubts whether he would be allowed to go this month.
He said: “Alexis was a player who was paid to leave Manchester United, let’s underline that first. He’s had good moments at Inter, which have been peppered by various injuries.
“I would be surprised if Simone Inzaghi the coach would want to let him go before the end of the season because they’re going for the title, a little bit of depth is nice.
“But he’s never going to start every week because they have Lautaro Martínez who’s their number one guy now, replaced [Romelu] Lukaku, they have Edin Dzeko who’s worked out absolutely fantastically for them…
“…I just wonder whether he [Sanchez] can come back given the amount of football he’s played over the last couple of years in Italy.
“He’s often been very, very good, closer to the Arsenal Alexis Sanchez than the Manchester United one, but can Everton expect him to play every week? I’m not convinced.”