Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is desperate to get rid of Alexis Sanchez before the European window closes on September 2, according to the Sun.
The former Arsenal attacker has been a big flop at Old Trafford and is on a massive salary of £505,000-a-week.
Roma are interested in taking him on loan but can’t afford his salary and it’s reported that United might have to shoulder some of his wages to get him off their books.
The 30-year-old signed in the summer of 2018 and is under contract until 2022, but he is being threatened with demotion to the reserves unless he makes a move this summer.
What has happened to Sanchez?
Arsenal were desperate to keep the attacker who was one of the most coveted players in the world while at the Emirates.
He scored 80 goals in 166 games for the Gunners and added 45 assists – elite numbers in the Premier League.
Since his move to United, he’s managed just five goals in 45 appearances and was recently involved in a bust-up with Mason Greenwood on the training pitch.
The true cost to United
He signed for United on Jan 22, 2018, and since that time they’ve paid him almost £41m in wages. That’s close to £1m per game and over £8m per goal.
No one thought things would work out this badly for the player who left Arsenal seemingly at the peak of his powers, albeit at 29 years of age.
With the player in this kind of funk, the biggest problem for United is finding a club willing to go anywhere near his massive salary
Packing him off to Roma on loan and subsidising his salary could well be the best option, then hoping he re-discovers his form and finds a buyer next January or summer.
Even then United might well have to subsidise the move or face holding onto a player that doesn’t seem to be in Solksjaer’s plans until June 2022. By then they would have paid him another £44m.