Inter Milan claim they have signed Alexis Sanchez from Manchester United

Inter Milan chief executive Giuseppe Marotta has claimed Alexis Sanchez has signed a three-year contract with the Italian club.

Sanchez, 31, joined Inter on loan from Manchester United in August last year and the Serie A club have been keen to turn the move into a permanent deal.

Marotta is reported on the Football Italia website to have told reporters that the deal has been completed and will be made official on Thursday.

“Unofficially, we’ll make it official (on Thursday) morning, the player is entirely owned by Inter,” Marotta is quoted as saying.

“We have a contract with him for three seasons. We believe in him, that he can be a strong part of this squad and are happy to have concluded this deal.”

Former Arsenal striker Sanchez has scored four goals in 29 appearances in all competitions for Inter this season and was among their substitutes in their home Europa League tie against Getafe on Wednesday night.

Sanchez linked up with ex-United team-mate Romelu Lukaku at the San Siro when he arrived in the summer of 2019.

The Chile international had endured a miserable time at Old Trafford after United signed him from Arsenal in a swap deal with Henrikh Mkhitaryan in January 2018.

He signed a four-and-a-half-year deal worth £14million a year after tax, but he struggled to reproduce his best form.

Sanchez scored five goals in 45 appearances and is no longer part of United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s plans.

It has been reported that United have been paying a sizeable chunk of Sanchez’s £400,000-a-week salary and the player is thought to have accepted a big drop in wages to make the move to Italy permanent.

Arsenal paid Barcelona £30m to bring Sanchez to the Premier League in 2014 and he scored 80 goals in three and a half years with the Gunners.