Manchester United’s breathtaking deal to sign Alexis Sanchez is worth around £180 million after the forward agreed a four-and-a-half-year contract.
Sanchez is now just waiting to find out if Henrikh Mkhitaryan will give the green light on a switch in the other direction to Arsenal, which would trigger his move to Old Trafford.
The 29 year-old will be paid £14m a year after tax - just under £27m a year before tax - to join United, on top of his £30m valuation, £20m signing-on fee, and an agents’ fee worth more than £10m. That all adds up to around £180m for a player who had entered the final six months of his Arsenal contract and goes some way to explaining why Manchester City walked away from negotiations.
Similarly, despite Antonio Conte admitting his admiration of the Chilean, Chelsea, who went close to signing Sanchez last summer, would not match the figures on offer at Old Trafford.
Despite widespread acknowledgment over what a talented player he is, there is astonishment among clubs and agents over the numbers involved in the Sanchez deal. Sanchez is now hoping Mkhitaryan will quickly reach an agreement with Arsenal, although the Armenian wants to become the highest earner at the Emirates.
Having already sold Theo Walcott to Everton for £20m, Arsenal are closing in on a move for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who wants to leave Borussia Dortmund. Aubameyang is believed to have a verbal agreement to join Arsenal and the Gunners now need to agree a deal with Dortmund, who would ideally like to take Olivier Giroud in the other direction.