£450,000 A WEEK!
Sanchez hits the jackpot with Man Utd mega deal
MANCHESTER United have agreed to make Alexis Sanchez the club’s highestever earner in the biggest wages deal in English Premier League history. The Chilean international forward will earn: £350,000 a week basic £100,000 a week in image rights £7.5million a year for four years as a signing-on fee
United will pay Arsenal £20m to sign the 29-year-old striker and a further £15m to his agent Fernando Felicevich.
Sanchez’s £450,000-a-week package is four times Harry Kane’s earnings at Tottenham.
Even after tax, the Chilean will take home more than £1m a month.
The signing could cost United around £170m for the four-anda-half-year contract, which will put the pressure squarely on Old Trafford manager Jose Mourinho to deliver trophies.
United are working on completing this month’s biggest transfer between Premier League clubs before travelling to play Burnley on Saturday. The deadline for new registrations is midday tomorrow. It makes Sanchez, who sources claim effectively ‘checked out’ at Arsenal almost a fortnight ago, the most expensive star in United’s history, eclipsing the money lavished on Zlatan Ibrahimovic last season. The Swede earned £422,000 a week in wages and goal bonuses, which Sanchez is primed to top by £50,000.
Mourinho sent a message to executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward over Christmas that United must continue to compete in the transfer market and that warning has been heeded.
Some of the Sanchez money must be recouped and Arsenal were last night confident of thrashing out a deal for Henrikh Mkhitaryan, which now only hinges on personal terms.
Although the two transfers are linked, they do not form a swap deal. Mkhitaryan, 28, is open to a move to the Emirates but wants an increase on his £140,000-a-week wages at United and hopes to secure a long-term contract worth up to £200,000 a week.
Fellow Arsenal target PierreEmerick Aubameyang is waiting to seal his move from Dortmund, having made clear his desire to join Arsene Wenger’s side last week.
Meanwhile, Theo Walcott ended his 12-year association with the Gunners after completing a £20m move to Everton yesterday.
The 28-year-old, who won two FA Cups with Arsenal, insisted he has joined Sam Allardyce’s side to win silverware and reignite his career.
Walcott had a medical on Tuesday and agreed a deal that will keep him at Goodison Park until June 2021.
‘I’m very ambitious and I’ve come here because I want the club to push to the next level,’ said Walcott. ‘I feel like the club are going in the right direction.’
An Arsenal statement read: ‘We all thank Theo for his contribution to the club.’
lManchester United are set for talks with UEFA over escalating ticket prices in the Champions League following the fiasco surrounding next month’s tie against Sevilla. Travelling fans will be charged £89 to watch the first leg in Spain on February 21.