It's been a strange season for Manchester United this year, one that has seen them score a last-minute winner against bitter rivals Liverpool in the FA Cup but also lose 4-3 to FC Copenhagen in the Champions League.
Erik ten Hag's side have been far from their best for most of the season, although one of the bright sparks has been summer signing Rasmus Hojlund, who has been scoring for fun since the turn of the year and, while club captain Bruno Fernandes hasn't been at his best, he's still been reasonably productive.
The pair are undoubtedly some of the club's most important players, yet their combined wages still amount to less than that of a former player who left the team as an unequivocal flop.
Rasmus Hojlund and Bruno Fernandes' wages at Man United
Now, Hojlund only joined the team in August of last year following his £72m transfer, and given that he was only 20 at the time, isn't earning an outrageous sum of money – by football's standards, that is – at around £85k-per-week.
For that investment, the Red Devils have received 13 goals, and two assists in just 31 appearances, meaning he averaged a goal involvement every two games or so, which is an impressive level of output considering the pressure that was placed upon him and with it being his first season in English football.
Player
Højlund
Fernandes
Appearances
31
223
Goals
13
72
Assists
2
63
Goals Involvements per Match
0.48
0.60
Fernandes, on the other hand, has been with the club for over four years following his £67m move in January 2020. In that time, he's secured one extension, which took his £180k-per-week wages up to an eye-watering £240k.
That said, his performances for the Red Devils in those four years have been brilliant. He's scored 72 goals and provided 63 assists in 223 games, which works out to a quite remarkable goal involvement every 1.65 games.
So, while the pair take home an enormous £325k-per-week between them, they're probably worth it, which is something that cannot be said about a former flop who pocketed more than that on his own.
Alexis Sanchez's salary at Manchester United
Come on, who else could it have been?
Alexis Sanchez joined United from Premier League rivals Arsenal in January 2018 in a swap deal that cost around £30m and saw Henrikh Mkhitaryan go the other way.
The former Barcelona ace agreed to a four-and-a-half-year deal that saw him make an astounding £350k-per-week, which, had he seen out in Manchester, would have come to around £81.9m.
Unfortunately for the three-time European champions, this was a deal that did not work out in any way, shape or form. In the season and a half he actually played for the club, the Tocopilla-born ace scored just five goals and provided nine assists in 45 games.
Therefore, when adding the £30m worth of fees it took to sign him, the £6m worth of wages they covered when he joined Inter Milan on loan for the 2019/20 season and the 82 weeks they paid him £350k, the whole deal cost United a whopping £64.7m – talk about a bad deal.
Fees
£0m
Wages per week (Total)
£350k (£28.7m)
Wages Paid to Inter Milan
£6m
Total Cost
£64.7m
Appearances
45
Cost per Appearance
£1.4m
Goals
5
Cost per Goal
£12.9m
Assists
9
Cost per Assist
£7.1m
Goal Involvements
14
Cost per Goal Involvement
£4.6m
To put that into context, the "woeful" winger, as journalist John Cross described him, cost the Red Devils around £12.9m-per-goal, £7.1m-per-assist, or £1.4m-per-appearance.
Ultimately, signing Sanchez has to go down as one of the worst business decisions in the club's history.
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That said, the fact that neither Hojlund nor Fernandes are anywhere near the wage he was on is undoubtedly a sign that the club has learned its lesson.
