15 fun facts about Alexis Sanchez

Sanchez's full name is Alexis Alejandro Sanchez. That's an ardously long name. If you find it easier, you can call him by his nickname “El Nino Maravilla ( The Wonder Child)”, a fitting nickname for the Chilean who has had a rapid rise at such a young age.

He also has another quite amusing nickname. You see, he was quite the climber in his days, one who could get into tight lanes and climb trees to retrieve lost balls during games on the street. Couple that with his relatively short 5' 6" stature and boundless energy on the pitch, he came to be known as ‘Dilla,’ short for ardilla, which means squirrel in Spanish.

Sanchez may have been on extravagant wages and leading a glamorous lifestyle, but as a boy he grew up in a poverty-stricken area in the mining town in Chile called Tocopilla. His father left the family stranded when he was young, leaving his mother, Martina, with an uphill battle of bringing up him with his three siblings.

He has two sisters, Tamara and Marjorie, as well as a brother named Humberto. His mother worked multiple jobs to make ends meet, including home-cleaning jobs, selling fish and flowers. Sanchez started earning money to help his family when he was just six years old. To pursue his dream of becoming a footballer, he was later shifted to his uncle's house.

It was not an easy childhood by any means, as his brother Humberto revealed in a 2014 interview.

“Alexis had nothing when growing up,” he explained. “He had to fight for everything he has. We were the poorest of the poor... Sometimes he was so hungry he would knock on neighbours’ doors and ask for bread. They would always give him what they had to spare.”

This difficult upbringing is what inspired Sanchez to succeed in becoming a professional footballer to provide for his family. He also came to the rescue when his mother got into trouble for selling fish without a license. The family were pretty sure they were doomed.

After all, it was a substantial sum to pay. Having only signed for Cobreloa, Sanchez asked his agent Fernando Felicevich to look into the situation. The agent acquired the license and the dues were paid.

If Alexis’ Instagram account is anything to go by, he is fond of dogs. They’re two charming Golden Retrievers called Atom and Humber, both of whom have their own Insta accounts. There are many posts of him dressing them up, sleeping next to them and he has even been seen wearing t-shirts with their faces on, and the dogs wearing his match-worn jerseys.

He has also brought his dogs to training with him, going on a run with them as part of his warm up. During the lockdown in May 2020, he welcomed two adorable puppies to the family as well.

Sanchez showed a knack for the beautiful game very early in his childhood. He grew up in a town where mining and fishing were the primary means of livelihood.

Although Sanchez's uncle, Delaigue, had more money than his mother and was supportive, being a coach himself, but after a few years, his uncle was unable to provide for Sanchez. His uncle was also struggling financially, which could have ended Sanchez’s football dream before it began.

Sanchez helped pay his way by cleaning cars at the gates of the city’s cemetery from an early age. He also used to entertain people in the street by doing acrobatics, and kickboxing (he was paid to fight other children) to bring in little money.

He himself stressed years later that Sanchez would have gone on to be a miner probably if he did not stand out in football.

In an HBO documentary, Sanchez said: “When I was a kid my mother was working and I didn’t like it that my mother was working. When she was cleaning in the school I hid because I didn’t like to see her there."

He continued: “If I had not become a football player I would probably have ended up working in the mine, or doing something else, something tough, but I would have done something. I wanted to triumph as a footballer to help the family and the people of Tocopilla.”

Sanchez learned his craft, guile, and football trickery on the dusty streets of Tocopilla. It quickly became clear he had a lot of potential, and was preparing for various club trials, but his mother lacked the means to provide with a decent pair of football boots, so his mother sought assistance from the city's mayor, Aleksander Kurtovic.

“My mother went to speak to him to ask whether he could find me some boots as I never stopped playing and I wasn’t such a bad player,” Sanchez told AS in 2014. “One day he showed up at our house with a pair of football boots. I can’t explain how happy and thrilled I was! I couldn’t believe it!”

The biggest turning point for Sanchez that would set him on the path to stardom came when he was taken in by a host family back in 2004. Cobreloa club director Luis Astorga, a wealthy Chilean humanitarian, offered to provide everything for the young Chilean to succeed in football.

Astorga had done a lot of work for promising young kids in Chile who had the potential to thrive given the necessary resources. He knew Sanchez was special and invested in him without expecting anything in return.

With further help from Astorga, Cobreloa football club took a gamble on Sanchez in 2005 and of course, he did not look back since.

Sanchez's move from Udinese to Barcelona in a deal worth €37.5m including add-ons in 2011 made him the most expensive Chilean of all-time, the fee comfortably surpassing the €28.5m Juventus paid Lazio for striker Marcelo Salas 10 years earlier.

Not one to back down from a challenge, he demanded the No.9 shirt that had previously belonged to his idol, Ronaldo Nazario. Despite an injury-plagued first season in Catalonia, Sanchez quickly got into his rhythm at Camp Nou, excelling in a front three with Lionel Messi and Pedro.

He helped Barcelona win the La Liga title with a record-equaling 100 points in 2012/13, and even though the Blaugrana couldn't defend their title the following season, he still scored 21 goals in all competitions before making his next move, to Arsenal, in 2014.

The 34-year-old later eclipsed that figure when he swapped Barcelona for Arsenal in a €42.5m deal. The transfer nearest to the record set by Sanchez is Arturo Vidal's move from Juventus to Bayern Munich in 2015, which was reported to be around €39.25m.

Part of the Golden Generation of Chilean football, Sanchez is hailed as a hero in his home country having played 132 times for Chile during his career. Sanchez led Chile to their first major silverware when they won the Copa America in 2015, scoring the iconic winning penalty against Messi's Argentina in the final.

He captained them to repeat the remarkable feat at the Centenario edition of the tournament the very next year, winning the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player along the way.

With 153 caps and 51 goals, Sanchez is both his country's all-time record appearance-maker as well as La Roja's record goalscorer. He is certainly in the argument as the greatest Chilean player of all time, which is saying something when he has the aforementioned Salas and Ivan Zamorano for company in that conversation. It comes as no surprise he has a statue erected in his native Tocopilla in his honour.

Sanchez's Premier League journey could have been very different. A move to the Etihad collapsed in the summer of 2017, as the Chilean attacker was expected to move to Manchester City in January 2018.

One of the key factors behind City's interest in Sanchez was his previous working relationship with their manager, Pep Guardiola, during their time together at Barcelona. The Catalan boss wanted a reunion, but rivals Manchester United swooped in to make him the highest paid player in England at the time with a weekly wage boosted by bonuses that could have reached up to £500,000, according to some reports. As the saying goes, the rest is history.

The move didn't exactly work out as planned for either party. In fact, the player later revealed he asked his agent whether he could leave Manchester United and return to Arsenal after only one training session.

Needless to say, Sanchez is a hero to the people of Tocopilla, but not just because they are proud of what he has achieved for the country. He also gives back to the community.

As a boy, Sanchez would play barefoot on dirty pitches in his hometown, and it is here where he honed the skills that he has shown throughout his footballing career. His roots are clearly still hugely important for him, and he regularly sends clothes, books, and Christmas gifts for underprivileged children.

He also donated almost half a million to restore youth pitches in the area, providing future generations with a place to hone their skills and follow in his footsteps.

Marcelo Salas had a successful career as a buccaneering striker, representing various clubs including Universidad de Chile, River Plate, and Lazio. He finished his career at Universidad de Chile--the club that Sanchez supported when he was growing up. He was also a prominent figure in the Chilean national team, earning the nickname "El Matador" for his goal-scoring prowess.

On September 2007, Sanchez even got the chance to play alongside his idol, as he and Salas lined up together up top for the Chile national team in a 2-0 friendly victory over Austria in Vienna.

It's always fascinating to discover the hidden talents and hobbies of players beyond football, and Sanchez's is playing piano, of which he has posted various videos on his social media handles in the past.

He has performed an excellent rendition of John Legend’s “All of Me” in 2015, and Richard Marx’s “Right Here Waiting” at the Arsenal Christmas party. In fact, he announced his arrival at Old Trafford by playing a rousing rendition of "Glory, Glory Man United" on the piano - and Arsenal fans hated it.

Sanchez spends a large portion of his earnings on supercars, something he's very passionate about. Among his many vehicles are a Lamborghini Huracan, a Bentley Bentayga, a Bentley Continental GT, an Audi R8, and a Range Rover Sport.

The former Catalan may not be a property dealer, but taking into account his worldwide real state holding, we suppose that's food for thought after retirement. He owns properties in Barcelona, the United Kingdom, Milan, and Chile. According to The Sun, the Marseille forward has recently purchased a beachfront condo near Miami. As per the South Florida real estate, The Real Deal, the Chilean paid nearly $2.5 million for the luxury apartment in a Sunny Isles Beach apartment.

This is perhaps one of the most amazing stories about Sanchez. What would you do if you accidently locked yourself out of the car? Take a ride back to the city, or maybe call your teammate to help out, but the chances are high that you won’t opt to run the five miles home to recover back-up keys, would you? Sanchez did.

Since bursting onto the European scene, he has showcased his strength, stamina, and fitness freak way to life, however, he wasn’t always the athlete he is now. After leaving South America for bigger and better things in 2008, the Marseille attacker made a conscious effort to bulk up and strengthen his body during his time at Serie A outfit Udinese, as Italian journalist Pietro Oleotto explained his physical transformation.

“In his first season, [Alexis] was skinny and stayed on the right wing a lot,” Oleotto told Inside United magazine in 2018. "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.

“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.”

Sanchez loves a Panenka. Just ask Lionel Messi's Argentina, because it was the 2015 Copa America final that saw the Chilean sharp-shooter at his coolest from 12 yards as he dinked home the cheekiest of attempts to ensure that Chile defeated Argentina in a tense shootout.

Sanchez's exploits weren't a one-off, as the Arsenal faithful know very well when he stepped up to convert a stoppage-time penalty against Burnley in 2017 with the exact same style. It's one thing to chip a penalty down the middle on a training ground or a friendly, when there's absolutely no pressure on the player, but it's another thing to do so when three points, and international silverware are at stake.

While he no longer has the legs he once had to amaze the crowd with his dazzling footwork these days, but the very same coolness and cheekiness still runs through his game as he remains cool as a cucumber from the penalty spot.

He couldn't help put on his classic panenka on display when Marseille won a penalty in first-half stoppage time during their Coupe de France encounter with Hyeres FC of the French fourth-tier.

In a 2-0 win, Sanchez proved that ice was running through his veins when he fired Marseille into the lead with a quite unusual technique. It hit the back of the net just six inches off the ground, just enough to float cutely across the goal line, such was the nonchalance of the effort, which went viral on social media.