French giants Olympique Marseille have confirmed the signing of Chilean Alexis Sanchez on a short-term contract. The former Manchester United and Arsenal star had his contract terminated by Inter Milan recently.
The player will become Marseille’s ninth new signing of the season and sign a short-term deal. The club confirmed the same through a release on Tuesday night on their official website.
“Olympique de Marseille and Alexis Sánchez have agreed on a transfer on principle,”
it read.
“The Chilean international with 143 caps, who won 17 trophies in his career, will commit himself to Olympique in the next few hours after passing his medical tests.”
According to reports, Inter paid 5 million euros as severance to Sanchez to cut short his contract by a year, making the former United and Arsenal star a free agent and allowing him to move to Marseille unhindered.
The Chilean, in turn, has signed a one plus one year contract with the Olympiens, running until the end of the 2022/23 season with the option to extend it by another 12 months if the club so desires. Furthermore, the forward will take a massive pay cut to complete the move – he is down to 2.5 million euros a year, a big drop from the 7 million per season salary he received while in Milan.
Sanchez, as mentioned above, will become Marseille’s ninth summer signing. The Ligue 1 side has gone through a complete overhaul this summer, switching managers from Jorge Sampaoli to Igor Tudor and bringing in players, both on loan and permanently, including Nuno Tavares, Jonathan Clauss, Jordan Veretout, and Chancel Mbemba.
Marseille, meanwhile, become the ninth club of Sanchez’s career. The Chile international started his professional stint at Cobreloa and went on to play for the clubs of the highest stature in Europe – including Barcelona, Manchester United, and Arsenal among others. He is remembered best for his three-and-a-half seasons at the Emirates, in which he scored 80 goals in 166 appearances.