According to the Telegraph (subscription required), Manchester United made a pay-off of between £5-£10m in order to convince Alexis Sanchez to join Inter Milan on a permanent deal.
The Telegraph’s James Ducker took to Twitter to report that the exact figure will be stated in the club’s Q1 accounts for the 2020/21 season, which will be published later this year.
Inter announced that they’d captured the ace on a free transfer this morning, with the Chilean joining Antonio Conte’s side on a three year contract.
Sanchez’s big-money move to Old Trafford in January 2018 from Arsenal has turned out to be one of the worst deals in the club’s history.
A specific figure is due to be documented in United’s Q1 accounts for 20/21 season (and end of this strange campaign), which will be published later in the year, but Alexis Sanchez’s pay-off from #MUFC is understood to be between £5m and £10m https://t.co/nMezcAmGCa
— James Ducker (@TelegraphDucker) August 6, 2020
BBC Sport’s Simon Stone also explained why a pay-off was necessary:
Is a free transfer but Sanchez was owed £40m in wages for final two years of contract, so with extra year from Inter, pay-off from United and player taking pay cut they have made it work.
— Simon Stone (@sistoney67) August 6, 2020
Sanchez only contributed five goals and nine assists in 45 appearances for United, the superstar quickly fell out of favour at Old Trafford after a dismal start.
The 31-year-old was loaned out to Inter last summer and even his time in Italy didn’t get off to the best of starts, with constant injury troubles still plaguing the South American.
Sanchez has showed his quality since the restart though, the lengthy hiatus due to the pandemic appeared to give the ace the time and space he needed to get back to full fitness.
Sanchez has scored three goals and chipped in with seven assists in just 13 Serie A outings since Italian football resumed, this form has ultimately convinced Inter to agree a permanent deal, much to United’s pleasure.