Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wants Alexis Sanchez to remain at Manchester United and expects him to prove his critics wrong, reports Dailymail.
Sanchez has interest from Serie A clubs ahead of the European transfer window closing on September 2 but his wages may prove an obstacle to a move.
The total bill for signing Sanchez could potentially cost United up to £560,000 per week, once all aspects of the four-and-a-half-year deal are factored in.
Solskjaer is insistent that Sanchez, who hasn’t completed the full 90 minutes in more than a year for the club, will stay at Old Trafford this season and backed him to make a difference.
“Alexis is such a professional,” Solskjaer said. “He comes in working really hard. He’s part of our squad and is a very good player.
“We don’t have the biggest forward line in numbers and he might end up playing a lot more games than you expect. We expect him to come good.”
Sportsmail has learned that he earns a basic salary of £300,000 a week, plus an additional net payment of £100,000 a week from a £5million-a-year image rights deal.
United must also pay £5million in agent’s fees over the course of the contract to the player’s representative Fernando Felicevich. That’s the equivalent of £21,370 a week.
It’s understood the club inserted a £5million clause into the deal, payable if Sanchez makes 30 starts in a single season — even though he started only 13 times in all competitions last term.
Additional bonuses and employers’ national insurance payments take the potential overall figure to £560,000 a week if Sanchez is successful.
The major problem is getting Sanchez up to speed now and United have arranged private friendlies to boost the fitness of a number of stars.
“He’s had three weeks (training), he’s still a bit behind,” Solskjaer added. “We’ve had a behind closed doors game. He’s doing a little bit of extras. He’ll be integrated. We’ll have more behind closed doors games.”
