Alexis Sanchez's New Challenge in MLS with Montreal
Alexis Sanchez has spent the last few years living out of a suitcase. Since that ill-fated, high-profile move to Old Trafford in January 2018, his career has been a tour of Europe’s major leagues, with only fleeting reminders of the player who once terrorised defences for Arsenal and Barcelona.
He lasted just 45 games at Manchester United before being shipped out to Inter, first on loan and then permanently. Marseille, Udinese, another spell in Milan and a year in Spain with Sevilla all followed. Only that 18-goal burst in France truly hinted at the old Alexis. For the most part, end product has dried up for the 37-year-old.
Now comes a different kind of challenge. Not another stop in Italy or Spain, but a fresh start in Canada with Montreal in MLS, and a shot at rediscovering something that has looked lost.
Sagna’s verdict: “They could see why he is Alexis Sanchez”
Bacary Sagna knows both the player and the territory. The former France international shared a dressing room with Alexis at Arsenal and later made his own move to Montreal in 2018, after spells with Manchester City and Benevento. He loved it. And he believes the Chilean will, too.
Speaking to GOAL on behalf of BetVictor Online Casino, Sagna did not sugarcoat the first hurdle.
“He will need to adapt to the cold first! Trust me, it's cold,” he said. “But Alexis Sanchez is a top player. I had some feedback already and people were impressed at his first session, they could see the difference of quality, they could see why he is Alexis Sanchez.”
The message is clear: the talent hasn’t vanished, it just needs the right stage.
“I think it's very important for him to just enjoy football again and to show why he's been performing for Arsenal, why he's been in the top 20 best players in the world at some point,” Sagna added. “MLS will notice this soon because he's a top player and I'm pleased to see him playing for Montreal and hopefully he will have a great impact.”
Enjoyment. Freedom. Impact. That is the bet Montreal are making.
Montreal, not Miami: the quieter MLS draw
When players think MLS, they often picture New York, Miami, Los Angeles. The beaches, the billboards, the celebrity roll call. Montreal offers something different, and Sagna insists that is precisely the point.
“The lifestyle is very good. I think the ecosystem is made for a great family life. It's an amazing country,” he said. “I lived there for three years. It's a well-balanced country, you have the seasons and people live well. I was in Montreal, beautiful city. It's a European aspect with U.S. infrastructure.”
He even sells the winter, the very thing many outsiders fear.
“Even winter, I mean I love the sun but I enjoyed winter there because I could go walking for two hours on the snow in the park with a hot chocolate and it grounded you. I think not many places are like that today in the world we live in today.”
For a player who has spent the last few seasons bouncing from club to club, that grounding could matter as much as any tactical role.
“It’s amongst the best places to live - Montreal was in the top five of the best places to live in the world at some point,” Sagna said. “It’s fun, the vibe is good, people are happy and it's a nice country. Also, people speak both languages, French and English, and you have a big Spanish community being in North America also.”
For Alexis, who has already lived in England, Italy, France and Spain, that mix of cultures and languages will feel familiar, not foreign.
Two-year window to find the old fire
Alexis signed a two-year deal with Montreal when he arrived in August 2026. This is not a short-term cameo or a retirement tour dropped in between commercial appearances. The club are giving him time to settle, adapt to the league, and build something.
That contract buys him space to breathe. It also sets a clock ticking. Two seasons to prove that the flashes at Marseille were not the last embers of a great career, but a sign there is still fuel in the tank.
He does not have to look far for the template.
Recently, Alexis saw up close just how devastating an ageing superstar can still be in MLS. Lionel Messi, his former Barcelona team-mate, scored four of Inter Miami’s seven goals in a ruthless demolition of Canadian opposition at Nu Stadium, a reminder that at 39 the Argentine GOAT remains brutally efficient.
Messi has already bent the league to his will. Montreal hope Alexis can at least bend games, tilt nights, drag crowds to their feet again.
The cold will bite. The travel will test him. The expectations, even at 37, will follow him across the Atlantic.
If he can find joy again in that Montreal winter, how far can this final chapter really go?
