From the Chilean desert to the promised land of the Premier League, Sanchez has enjoyed a remarkable rise to fame

Alexis Sanchez will miss his mid-winter break this season — last year he used it to go home to Tocopilla in northern Chile and inaugurate five new synthetic grass football pitches he had donated to the desert town where he grew up.

‘This is where I used to play, although not quite in these conditions. It was more a case of rocks for goalposts when I was young,’ Sanchez told the crowds who had gathered to catch a glimpse of him last year.

The donation has made a difference with a youth football league established and more young boys than ever playing the game despite baseball being Tocopilla’s No 1 sport.

Sanchez grew up in Tocopilla, a town in northern Chile, where he used rocks for goalposts growing up

Sanchez's €25m move to Barcelona in 2011 took him a long way from the dusty streets on which he grew up

Sanchez, pictured second right, grew up playing youth football in his home country of Chile

Sanchez, pictured bottom second right, poses for a photo in his younger years in Chile