Manchester United could be stuck with Alexis Sanchez with player refusing to lower wage demands; it will cost them £50 million

Manchester United could end up being stuck with Alexis Sanchez at the club next season, possibly until the expiry of his contract, which will end in the summer of 2022, according to reports. It is suggested that the Chilean winger is refusing to take a pay cut. Sanchez has spent the season on loan with Inter Milan and due back at United from the 7 August 2020.

The 31-year-old has made a total of 23 appearances for the Italian club this season, scoring two goals and eight assists but also suffering from a tendon injury which kept him out for 14 matches from 13 October 2019 until 5 January 2020. It could well be that a season will not go by without Sanchez suffering some kind of injury.

The Daily Mail suggest that Sanchez is unwilling to lower his weekly wage which will be a major stumbling block if United find a club to move him onto this summer, meaning the club could be liable to pay his final two years up front, costing £50 million or more, which is not something United would be willing to do.

It is suggested that the 31-year-old would rather stay in Europe and therefore is not interested in playing in China or the Middle East, which are places he would earn high wages. However, if they looked at what the player brings to the pitch, they might think otherwise as the Chilean winger offers little to excite a club with high expectations.

United will learn a massive lesson from signing Sanchez with executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward feeling that Sanchez was the missing piece of the jigsaw at the time he was signed, in January 2018, but his appointment at the club has been nothing short of an embarrassment. However, Henrikh Mkhitaryan moving in the other direction, to Arsenal, was not a glowing success either.

Inter Milan have been paying half of Sanchez’s £300,000 weekly wage which could rise to £505,000 per week with bonuses. Manager, Antonio Conte would like to keep the Chilean at the club moving forward but Inter are said to be reluctant to pay the player’s £18 million fee this summer. United should look into what Inter would pay for him and cut their losses.