Alexis Sanchez’s switch to Manchester United from Arsenal in the January transfer window has attracted unprecedented revenue to the Red Devils, according to Executive Vice Chairman, Ed Woodward.
Woodward also said that the social media buzz generated by the transfer also dwarfed that of Neymar’s world-record summer switch from Barcelona to Paris Saint Germain.
The Manchester United boss made this known while giving a report of United’s earnings for the second quarter of the 2017-18 financial year via conference call on Thursday.
“Alexis Sanchez has set a new January signing record in terms of shirt sales — three times that previous record,” he said.
He added, “Last month we further invested in the future of the club by extending Jose Mourinho’s contract and entering into an exchange agreement with Arsenal swapping Mkhitaryan for Sanchez, strengthening Jose’s attacking options.
“It was the biggest United post on Instagram with two million 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.”
According to Woodward, total revenue for the quarter was up nearly four percent from last year to £163.9 million, but the club suffered a £29m second-quarter loss to the end of December 2017.