According to an exclusive report from The Daily Star, Manchester United have performed a U-turn and decided to bring Alexis Sanchez back from Inter Milan once his loan spell ends in the summer.

What's the word, then?

The same source reveals that Ed Woodward has told Sanchez and his agents he will not be allowed to make his loan deal with the Nerazzurri permanent, nor will he be able to join another club in the summer.

Instead, an olive branch will be offered to the Chilean international, who will go on United's pre-season tour with a view to reintegrating himself back into Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's squad.

Quickfire Quiz: How much do you know about Man Utd's history in the January transfer window?

With only five goals in 45 games played for the Red Devils, it's safe to say that Sanchez has been a big disappointment for his former side and the latest news definitely comes as a huge surprise.

But for Inter, it doesn't necessarily have to be bad news.

Verdict

It's pretty difficult to judge Sanchez's stay at Inter given he has only tallied 214 minutes since arriving from Old Trafford.

Of course, the reason behind that is the injury that has kept the 31-year-old sidelined and Inter have performed well without him.

The race for the Scudetto is still very much on as the Nerazzurri are currently second with three points behind league leaders Juventus.

There's no way of knowing whether Sanchez would've turned the tides in their favour had he featured more regularly but for that very reason, this report won't be seen as a huge blow for Antonio Conte's side.

Of course, Sanchez has finally returned but is yet to start featuring regularly - he has only tallied 16 minutes in the last two Serie A games, so he's still a relatively unknown entity for Inter.

But if he manages to turn his fortune around by the end of the season, things could get interesting for the Italians.

Meanwhile, Inter Milan are reportedly in talks to sign one of Tottenham Hotspur's targets...