Alexis Sanchez believes his failure to shine in a dismal 18 months at Manchester United prior to joining Inter Milan on loan was due to a lack of opportunities.

The Chilean moved to Italy on a 10-month loan deal last week with United still paying a large chunk of his reported 400,000 pounds ($484,000) a week wages.

Sanchez failed to live up to the expectations United had when signing him from Arsenal on a 4.5-year contract in January 2018, scoring just five times in 45 appearances for United.

However, he started just 31 of 77 games the Red Devils played during his time there and played the full 90 minutes on just 13 occasions.

"I've always said to my friends: I want to play," Sanchez told the BBC.

"If they would let me play I'll do my best. Sometimes I'd play 60 minutes then I wouldn't play the next game - and I didn't know why."

Sanchez was signed with United second in the Premier League and aiming to close the gap on local rivals Manchester City, who were also interested in reuniting Sanchez with his former boss at Barcelona Pep Guardiola.

Instead, in his first full season at Old Trafford, Jose Mourinho was sacked and replaced by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as United finished sixth and as close to the relegation zone on points as they were to champions City.

But despite winning no trophies, Sanchez has no regrets over joining United rather than City.

"I'm very happy I went to Manchester United. I've always said that. It's the club that's won the most in England," added Sanchez.

"When I went to Arsenal it was fantastic - I was happy there - but United were growing at the time, they were buying players to win something.

"I wanted to join them and win everything. I don't regret going there."