Ed Woodward has made it clear that Manchester United can easily afford Alexis Sanchez’s wages along with the new demands of Jose Mourinho’s contract.
The Chilean international arrived at the club over the January transfer window in a straight swap deal that saw Henrikh Mkhitaryan move the other way.
Sanchez’s wages have been heavily disputed and argued over, with estimations over his income ranging between £350,000 to £500,000 a week. He is thought to earn £14m a year after tax.
And Woodward, speaking at an annual investors call, made it clear that the club’s business model could easily account for Sanchez’s wages.
Woodward clear that Sanchez' £500,000-a-week is affordable for #mufc – “Our solid business model has allowed us to invest in the future of the Club with the extension of Mourinho’s contract & and the acquisition of Alexis Sanchez”
— James Robson (@JamesRobsonMEN) February 8, 2018
Woodward, a marketing man by trade, initially attracted plenty of criticism from supporters after replacing David Gill, but his role in ensuring United – unlike, say, Liverpool – remain a global financial superpower in an era without Premier League titles, capable of making someone the highest paid player in the game, deserves enormous praise.
Social media predictably spewed over Sanchez’s wage packet and rightly so. Nobody on the planet needs anywhere near half a million in their bank account every week, after all, and underlines the gross economic inequality in today’s modern world that will only grow exponentially over the years until we all essentially live in places reminiscent of Dubai.
But this was something United were willing to do as a kind of necessary financial evil ahead of the summer transfer window – a crucial period in ensuring United can close the gap with Manchester City – to remind everyone that nobody, for the possible exception of Paris Saint Germain, can eclipse their purchasing power and ability to attract the very best.