Former Udinese manager Pasquale Marino believes Alexis Sanchez can reach the level of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Marino handed Alexis his debut for Udinese in 2008 after successful loan spells at Colo Colo and River Plate. Alexis spent three seasons at Udinese, scoring 21 goals in 112 appearances before moving to Barcelona.

Marino explained that he was worried about his player due to the amount of quality forwards Barcelona had at the time. “Putting him on the bench is like taking a toy from a child.

“There was just one thing that worried me when he joined Barcelona — they were full of amazing forwards and it was by no means a given that Alexis would be in the starting 11,” he told IBTimes.

“Since I know how important it is for him to play, I feared that without regular football he could become discouraged.” 

The Chilean proved to be a success at Barcelona, scoring 47 goals in 141 appearances. His best season saw him score 19 league goals 34 games. He joined Arsenal the following season, and has finished as the club’s top scorer twice.

Alexis’ most recent season saw him score 30 goals in all competitions in 51 games. Marino feels he can kick on to even a higher level and compete with the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. “He’s never looked as strong as he does now.

“Personally, I think he could score more than 35 goals a season in any league he plays in. If he succeeded in doing that, he would be at the same level as two monsters of the modern game: Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. 

“Nowadays only those two, and maybe Zlatan Ibrahimović, can claim to be better than Alexis.” Alexis has just the one goal this season, as a combination of injury and lack of match fitness saw him in and out of the Arsenal team.

His contract expires in the summer and if he is set to reach another level with his goalscoring, chances are it won’t be at Arsenal.