LONDON – Manchester United are facing a staggering £36 million bill if Alexis Sanchez’s protracted loan move to Inter Milan is made permanent.
Representatives of both clubs held further talks yesterday regarding the Chilean’s season-long loan, with Inter hopeful of having a deal concluded before the weekend, including an option to make the deal permanent for just under £15m next summer.
But Sportsmail understands Inter are planning to offer Sanchez a contract worth no more than £150 000 a week if they do make the deal permanent.
Sanchez will be 31 in December, and Inter chiefs are reluctant to take on a huge burden to their wage bill given his age.
That leaves Sanchez facing a shortfall of £350 000 a week on his £500 000-a-week contract at Old Trafford – one he is almost certainly unwilling to take.
United would then be contractually obliged to pay out the last two years of his contract – a total of £36m.
If Inter were to take up the option, the £15m transfer fee would ease the financial burden on United as they settle the remainder of Sanchez’s contract.
As revealed by Sportsmail in May, United will pay a significant portion of Sanchez’s £26m salary to facilitate his exit this summer.
But they could be hit with another hefty bill next summer if Inter sign Sanchez permanently.
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A post shared by Alexis Sanchez(@alexis_officia1) on Jul 27, 2019 at 1:03pm PDT
Meanwhile, Ryan Giggs has called for United winger Daniel James to get more protection from referees and insisted the 21-year-old is not a cheat.
United and Wales youngster James, who moved to Old Trafford this summer, was booed by Wolves fans after being booked for diving as United drew 1-1 at Molineux on Monday.
“With the speed he’s going at, it can look worse. He gets a lot of stick, and referees need to protect him,” said Giggs, who yesterday named James in his squad for next month’s Euro 2020 qualifier with Azerbaijan and friendly against Belarus.