Alexis Sanchez has already paid back a slice of his massive £500,000-a-week salary after his shirt sales smashed all records.
Sales of Sanchez’s No 7 Manchester United shirt were three times higher than any other January signing in the club’s history.
His arrival from Arsenal also generated 75 per cent more interaction on social media than Neymar’s world-record £199million switch to Paris Saint-German last summer.
United’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward revealed the figures on Thursday in a conference call to investors as the club gave their latest set of financial results, saying: “Alexis Sanchez has set a new January signing record in terms of shirt sales - three times that of the previous record
Sanchez generated some interesting social media stats.
“It was the biggest United post on Instagram with two millions likes and comments, the most shared United Facebook post ever, the most retweeted United post ever and #Alexis7 was the number one trending topic on Twitter worldwide.
“To put all that into context, the announcement posts generated 75 per cent more interaction than the sale of the world’s most expensive player last summer when Neymar moved from Barcelona to PSG.
“We have been the fastest growing and most engaged football club on Twitter. Since the start of the season, we have generated 25.5million interactions. It’s close to the same number of interactions of the next two biggest European clubs combined.”
Although Manchester City pulled out of the running to sign Sanchez because of his contract demands, Woodward insisted United can afford his salary package because of their “sound business model”.
Woodward predicts United’s profits will continue, even though Sanchez’s salary will push the wage bill even higher.
The latest figures for the second quarter of the financial year show United’s rose 9.4 per cent to £69.6million, which accounts for half of their costs.
This continued rise in the club’s wage bill, which will be further swollen by Jose Mourinho’s new deal, is sustainable, according to Woodward.
He is bullish about United’s prospects, even though they made a £29million loss in the second quarter because of a £49million tax write-off.
“We have released a strong set of numbers, including record second quarter revenues,” said Woodward.
“On the pitch, we remain second in the league, have progressed to the fifth round of the FA Cup, where we face Huddersfield Town and we have also progressed to the knockout stages of the Champions League and will face Seville in the round of 16.”
United's underlining figures show continued strong revenue and they are expected to earn half a billion in 2018, which would be the third successive year they have hit this mark.
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