Alexis Sanchez has become the highest-paid player in Premier League history after putting pen to paper on an £23 million-per-year deal with Manchester United.
The Chile international left Arsenal for the 20-time English champions Monday, signing a four-and-a-half-year contract with the Red Devils believed to be worth £450,000 a week.
As a result, Alexis replaces former United forward Wayne Rooney as the biggest earner the Premier League has ever seen, as the former England captain was on £300,000 a week at Old Trafford until he joined boyhood club Everton in the summer of 2017.
Upon returning to Merseyside in the summer Rooney signed a deal worth around half of his United salary, but no other contract in Premier League history had been worth more than the former England captain's until Sanchez's arrival at Old Trafford.
Manchester United are also responsible for the next three salaries on the Premier League's highest-paid players list, with Paul Pogba’s £290,000-a-week contract being signed in 2016 as part of his then world-record £89.5m move from Juventus.
Interestingly, the fourth highest salary was handed to Radamel Falcao during his 12 months on loan from Monaco in 2014-15, with the Colombian’s four goals in 29 appearances coming at the princely sum of £265,000 a week.
Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku earns £250,000 a week having signed for United last summer from Everton, while Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s £220,000 pay packet is matched by the salaries of Manchester City pair Sergio Aguero and Yaya Toure.
United’s David de Gea and Chelsea’s Eden Hazard both take home £200,000 per week, while Liverpool have replaced Philippe Coutinho’s £180,000 weekly bill with a similar deal for £75m defender Virgil van Dijk.
Sanchez was previously on around £140,000 with Arsenal but, having entered the final six months of his contract at the Emirates, the 29-year-old has made the most of his decreased transfer value by raking in a Premier League record contract.
Lionel Messi is believed to command the highest current weekly salary in world football, with the four-year contract he signed with Barcelona in 2017 entitling him to wages of around £500,000 per week.
However, Carlos Tevez was raking in even more than that at Shanghai Shenhua before returning to Boca Juniors in early January. The former Manchester United striker was earning around £650,000 a week over the course of his 12-month spell in China which he has since joked was merely a "holiday".
