He wasn't second best player in the league at the time, though. Hazard, Aguero, Kante, Sterling, Silva, Salah, van Dijk, Kane, de Gea - all of these players were definitely a cut above. If you only have to take wide players, then Hazard, Silva, Salah, Sterling definitely rank better, and I'm sure I'm forgetting a couple. Sanchez was also off the boil for Arsenal all through 2018, IIRC? Mate, he was a money-grabbing player, and Woodward just fell for him and agreed to the demands. That salary, whatever way you try, cannot be justified.
de Gea, arguably, the only reason we paid him that much was because we ****** up with Sanchez. Of course de Gea will feel he deserves more, considering he was the best performer in the team, and Sanchez was a muppet.
Also for Herrera, we didn't offer him that crazy money, but it only went to that extent because Sanchez. That one move was again the start of a fall of dominoes.