Pep Guardiola believes Alexis Sanchez cannot be blamed for his spectacular failure with Manchester United and expects the Chile forward to make an impact on loan with Inter Milan.

The Manchester City manager tried to sign Sanchez -- who played under Guardiola at Barcelona -- when he was in the process of joining Manchester United from Arsenal 18 months ago.

His failure to do so hardly proved problematic, with City winning the last two Premier League titles and watching from afar as Sanchez struggled at Old Trafford, scoring just five goals in 45 appearances.

Sanchez joined Inter on loan this week with United still paying a large percentage of his salary.

“I know him (Sanchez). We worked together in Barcelona. I have a special affection for him as a player, of course, but especially as a human being,” said Guardiola.

“He’s an incredible, humble guy and a fighter.

“So now he decides to move to Italy with one of the greatest teams in Europe with Inter right now, incredible manager with Antonio Conte and I’m pretty sure they are going to do well.

“Because the way I think Inter plays, is perfect for him. Play close to (Romelu) Lukaku and in this position I think he is going to have a good period in Milan.”

The City manager is firm in his conviction that there is no simple explanation for Sanchez’s catastrophic fall from grace.

“Football clubs don’t depend on one player,” he said. “You judge it was a failure for just Alexis, but there are many reasons.

Agence France-Presse