Alexis Sanchez has already apologized for his form at Manchester United, and it seems he will now be leaving Old Trafford.

But there’s a catch: United will have to pay him close to $15.5 million a season for him not to play for them.

Yep, that’s right.

Sanchez, 30, is reportedly wanted by Inter Milan on loan for next season, as the Chilean scored just one Premier League goal in his first full season at Old Trafford as he struggled to get into the team.

Multiple injuries curtailed any chance he had of getting back to his best form, and Sanchez is very much on the outside looking in as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer aims to dramatically rebuild his United squad this summer.

Sanchez signed a huge $645,000 per week contract in January 2018 and still has three more years left on that deal which saw him arrive from Arsenal in a swap deal with Henrikh Mkhitaryan. At the time it seemed like a very good deal (the eye watering numbers aside) as Sanchez had been one of the best players in the PL for multiple seasons and would give United’s attack a cutting edge with his driving runs and eye for goal.

He has never settled at Old Trafford.

Multiple reports state that Inter, who are on the verge of qualifying for the Champions League next season, is a likely destination for Sanchez and they would be willing to pay around half of his wages. Given Sanchez’s shocking form over the last 18 months, United would be lucky if a club was willing to pay that percentage of his wages. A return to Italy could suit Sanchez and help him rebuild his career after a horror last 18 months.

When a star player is out of form it is always an interesting dilemma for a club. Do you keep him around and hope he can provide something and regain his previous incredible form? Or do you take the hit, get half of his wages paid for and then hope somebody will sign him permanently if regular minutes solve his problems on the pitch?

The biggest issue for United is the problems Sanchez’s arrival has caused off the pitch.

Every single star at United (Paul Pogba, Marcus Rashford and David De Gea to name a few) now wants to be paid somewhere close, or at least equal, to the wages their top earner, Sanchez, is on. That is the big issue here. Sanchez is earning the big bucks but is hardly playing. What type of message does that send out to the rest of the squad? In this situation it is better for United to take the $15.5 million hit, at least for next season, and move Sanchez out on loan if they can’t sell him permanently over the summer.

Nobody is going to want to pay Sanchez anywhere near what he is on at United, so it’s unlikely he will leave the lucrative deal he was handed in January 2018. A loan move beckons, as United’s recruitment policy will once again be rightly questioned and ridiculed.

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