What the hell happened to Alexis Sanchez? How the fireball footballer extinguished over time

Alexis Sanchez

Some players mature like a Merlot in their twilight, receding into midfield to become a deep-lying telepath. Others grow old a little less gracefully, not noticing that their career has gone grey until a winger young enough to be their son has just skinned them. Then there are those who don't give us the satisfaction of noticing the decline either way: the spoilsports, the Zlatans, the money-grabbers, uprooting their young families to MLS to keep the flame burning bright a little longer in weekly testimonials. 

This ageing lark agrees with players like James Milner and Tim Cahill, Andres Iniesta and Giorgio Chiellini; those wise beyond their caps and hard to ever remember as younger than 28. But it was never going to be easy when Alexis Sanchez hit 30.

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Mark White
Content Editor

Mark White is the Digital Content Editor at FourFourTwo. During his time on the brand, Mark has written three cover features on Mikel Arteta, Martin Odegaard and the Invincibles, and has written pieces on subjects ranging from Sir Bobby Robson’s time at Barcelona to the career of Robinho. An encyclopedia of football trivia and collector of shirts, he first joined the team back in 2020 as a staff writer.