Manchester United’s breathtaking deal to sign Alexis Sanchez is worth around £180 million after the forward agreed a four-and-a-half-year contract.

Sanchez is now just waiting to find out if Henrikh Mkhitarayn will give the green light on a switch in the other direction to Arsenal, which would trigger his move to Old Trafford.

The 29 year-old will be paid £14m a year after tax - just under £27m a year before tax - to join United, on top of his £30m valuation, £20m signing-on fee, and an agents’ fee worth more than £10m.

That all adds up to around £180m for a player who had entered the final six months of his Arsenal contract and goes some way to explaining why Manchester City walked away from negotiations.

Similarly, despite Antonio Conte admitting his admiration of the Chilean, Chelsea, who went close to signing Sanchez last summer, would not match the figures on offer at Old Trafford.