Man Utd must foot mammoth £42m bill as Alexis Sanchez saga drags on

Inter Milan and Manchester United are continuing talks over a deal to take Alexis Sanchez to the San Siro, with complicated discussions over how the player’s huge contract will be paid up proving troublesome.

The Chilean forward has struggled to live up to expectations since moving from Arsenal 19 months ago, and has been heavily linked with a return to Italy, where he used to play for Udinese.

Since then, it has emerged that Inter are closing in on the signing of the one-time Barcelona star and United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer confirmed after Monday’s 1-1 draw at Wolves that the player could move on.

“Well, there’s still a couple of weeks left of the transfer window and there is a chance… some clubs have shown interest in Alexis, so we’ll see what happens. Can’t update you more than that,” he said.

Despite reports in the Italian media on Wednesday suggesting the deal will be announced in “a matter of hours”, the Daily Mail expects an agreement to be concluded by the weekend that will see Sanchez move on an initial season-long loan which will include an obligation to buy next summer.

The San Siro club are planning to offer Sanchez a £150,000 contract if they do decide to make the move permanent, as per the report – some £350,000 short of Sanchez’s current contract at Old Trafford.

Man Utd will therefore contractually obliged to pay out the remaining two years of the Chilean’s contract – an eye-watering total of £36million.

The report also claims Untied will receive just under £15million from Inter for the forward, which will include both the loan fee and incorporating a permanent deal.

United are also expected to be paying a large proportion of Sanchez’s wages this season to facilitate the initial move, with the report on Wednesday claiming that would set the Red Devils back a further €7m (£6.3m) – taking the total cost of getting the player off their books to a staggering £42.3million.

The former Arsenal forward has not made a senior appearance for United this season and has been limited to behind closed doors games at the training ground.

News of Sanchez’s likely exit was also welcomed by Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville in the Monday Night Football studios, who admitted he was “pleased” by the development.

“I think there must be two Alexis Sanchez’s,”he joked. “One was the one you saw proving himself a matchwinner during six, seven, eight years at Barcelona and Arsenal. Then there was the one who turned up at United. There must be two of them!”

Sanchez scored just two goals for United in the last campaign and was criticised heavily by supporters and pundits for his performances – with one claiming he had “stunk the place out” during his time at Old Trafford.

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