82
(^) Daily Mail, Friday, August 16, 2019
Football
CHELSEA have vowed to
take ‘the strongest
possible action’ against
any supporter behind the
racist abuse aimed at
Tammy Abraham online
following their European
Super Cup defeat.
Striker Abraham (right)
was the target for
horrific vitriol on social
media after seeing his
decisive effort saved in
Chelsea’s penalty
shootout loss to
Liverpool on Wednesday.
A Chelsea spokesman
said: ‘We are disgusted
with the abhorrent posts
we have seen on social
media. Chelsea FC finds all
forms of discriminatory
behaviour unacceptable.
‘It has no place at this
club and where there is
clear evidence of Chelsea
season ticket holders or
members involved in
such behaviour, we
will take the
strongest possible
action against
them.’
Chelsea adopted
a similar
firm
stance
towards
their own supporters
after Manchester City and
England star Raheem
Sterling was abused at
Stamford Bridge last
December.
Chelsea announced the
outcome of their own
investigation last
month and it
ended with one
supporter being
given a permanent
stadium ban while
five others were
banned for one to
two years.
Meanwhile,
European
competition
Chelsea ‘disgusted’ by Abraham abuse
By ADRIAN KAJUMBA
QPR will contact FIFA
about the racist abuse that
forced their Under 18s to
walk off the pitch in a
pre-season friendly.
Rangers’ players took a
stand when they were tar-
geted by Spanish side AD
Nervion in Seville last
week. They suffered mon-
key noises and n-word
taunts from opposition
players, with the walk-off
ensuring the referee had to
abandon the game.
As it was a friendly, the
incident falls under the
jurisdiction of FIFA who
confirmed ‘should we
receive such information,
for example a claim or
through an official report
including this issue, we will
look into the matter’.
Sportsmail understands
QPR are ready to raise the
matter with FIFA.
Tougher punishments on
racism formed a major part
of FIFA’s update of their
disciplinary code last
month with minimum bans
of 10 games to be be handed
out for racist incidents.
The Andalusian Football
Association have already
launched an investigation
into the events of August 8.
QPR call for FIFA probe
after racism in Spain
will follow the Premier
League’s lead and use
VAR only in ‘blatant’ cases
of goalkeepers being off
the line at penalties,
according to UEFA.
Chelsea fans have
questioned the system
after Liverpool keeper
Adrian was photographed
off his line when he saved
Abraham’s penalty.
UEFA referees chief
Roberto Rosetti said
that officials will be
trusted to rule on
encroachment and that
replays will only be called
for if the offence appears
obvious.
Kiosk gives
Class of ’92
some food
for thought
MANCHESTER UNITED want to
build a food kiosk yards away
from the Class of 92’s hotel —
in a bid to hoover up trade
outside Old Trafford.
The club have applied for
planning permission to install a
food and drink outlet to draw
visitors before they can head
over the bridge to the
£24million facility owned by
Gary Neville and his former
United team-mates.
The move could re-ignite a
seven-year-old row dating
back to the construction of the
10-storey hotel, to which
United objected. They lodged a
stinging, five-page objection,
EXCLUSIVE
By MIKE KEEGAN
claiming the hotel would
damage ‘the club’s holistic
vision for the continuing
enhancement of the area
surrounding the stadium’.
The proposals were passed
unanimously, and the hotel
now operates a successful
restaurant and benefits from
the huge number of tourists
visiting the adjacent stadium.
It serves as a daily reminder to
United executives of a lost
opportunity to increase
revenue at the club.
The club want their kiosk to be
open seven days a week,and
to 11pm on matchdays. It will
offer a selection of food, but
will not serve alcohol. It is
likely to attract Megastore
customers who have their
pictures taken next to the
statue of Denis Law, Bobby
Charlton and George Best.
T
HE staggering
terms of Alexis
Sanchez’s con-
tract at Manches-
ter United can be
revealed, as the Chile
star’s career continues to
stagnate at Old Trafford.
The astronomical deal United
offered Sanchez when he signed
from Arsenal 19 months ago
made him the highest paid
player in the Premier League.
But it is now proving to be a
major obstacle in finding a new
club prepared to take on the
30-year-old.
The total bill for signing
Sanchez could potentially
cost United up to £560,000 per
week, once all aspects of the
four-and-a-half-year deal are
factored in.
Sportsmail has learned that
he earns a basic salary of
£300,000 a week, plus an addi-
tional net payment of £100,000
a week from a £5million-a-year
image rights deal.
United must also pay £5m in
agent’s fees over the course
of the contract to the player’s
representative Fernando
Felicevich. That’s the equiva-
lent of £21,370 a week.
It’s understood the club
inserted a £5m clause into the
deal, payable if Sanchez makes
30 starts in a single season —
even though he started only
13 times in all competitions
last term.
Additional bonuses and
employers’ national insurance
payments take the poten-
tial overall figure to
£560,000 a week if Sanchez
is successful.
As it is, Sanchez (right)
has flopped dramatically —
scoring just five goals in 45
games for United. But the
terms are still proving prohibi-
tive to any clubs looking to take
a player who has three years
left on his contract.
As much as Sanchez
wants to make a
fresh start else-
where, he is
unlikely to take a
pay cut. The
former Udinese
forward has
been linked
with a return to
Italy with
Juventus, Inter
Milan or Napoli
before the Euro-
pean transfer window
closes on September 2.
None, though, want to pay a
big transfer fee or match
Sanchez’s salary. So United
face having to subsidise a sig-
nificant chunk of his wages if he
goes on loan.
It has been a dramatic fall
from grace for a player who
arrived to such fanfare in Janu-
ary 2018 after United pulled out
all the stops to hijack his move
to Manchester City.
They were prepared to
swap Sanchez with Henrikh
Mkhitaryan, who
was valued at
£35m, even though
the Chilean only had
a few months left on
his contract at Arsenal
before becoming a free agent.
United also hoped Sanchez
would help promote their brand
in South America, where Span-
ish clubs have traditionally
dominated. It has not turned
out that way, as Sanchez strug-
gled for form and fitness.
Sanchez wasn’t missed on the
pre-season tour this summer
while on international duty at
the Copa America, where he
sustained an ankle injury
that has set his pre-season
preparations back even further.
Sanchez now finds himself
behind Marcus Rashford,
Anthony Martial, Jesse
Lingard, Dan James and possi-
bly even teenager Mason
Greenwood in United’s pecking
order as manager Ole Gunnar
Solskjaer turns to a more
youthful forward line.
Solskjaer has warned that he
will not pick players he doesn’t
want simply because they have
stayed at the club this summer.
That applies, too, to Marcos
Rojo and Matteo Darmian, who
could still leave this month.
NO WONDER
THEY CAN’T
SHIFT HIM
REVEALED: The £560k
a week cost of keeping
Sanchez at United
ract.
anchez
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5
Alexis Sanchez has
scored just five goals
for Manchester United
since his move in
January 2018 — at a
cost of more than
£9million
a goal
OLD TRAFFORD
HOTEL FOOTBALL
PROPOSED SITE
EXCLUSIVE
By CHRIS WHEELER
MARTIN SAMUEL’S
«VERDICT: PAGES 80-81
ADRIAN KAJUMBA