Alexis Sanchez ran 8km home after locking himself out of car

Oli Fisher

During his time in Italy, Alexis Sanchez once ran 8km home after leaving his keys in his car, it has been revealed.

The Manchester United star, who joined from Arsenal in January as part of a swap involving Henrikh Mkhitaryan, joined Udinese aged 17.

Italian journalist Pietro Oleotto explained to the Inside United magazine: “Once, after training, Alexis drove into Udine to do some shopping. But he accidentally locked his keys and mobile phone in his car.

“I’m not sure what most people would have done, but he just ran home. He jogged the 8km from the heart of the city to his house in the hills.

“Bemused locals saw him in his club tracksuit running and called us at the paper. It was typical of Alexis to turn the situation into an improvised cross-country run.”

Oleotto recalled how skinny Sanchez was upon joining the club, and how much muscle he put on to cope with the physical demands of Serie A.

“In his first season, he [Alexis] was skinny and stayed on the right wing a lot.

“The physicality in the penalty area was too much for him. But the team needed him more central, closer to the goal, to make the most of his dribbling.

 “So he began improving his body and they built him an ad-hoc gym. He worked out for two hours a day after training. I remember seeing him halfway through pre-season training camp and being shocked by how much muscle he had put on.”

 

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