Alexis Sanchez is set to become the highest-paid player in the Premier League thanks to his move from Arsenal to Manchester United, and will possibly be joined in Manchester by girlfriend Mayte Rodriguez.
The Chilean couple share a love of dogs, with Mayte having over half-a-million Instagram followers thanks to her acting career in her native country.
Goal takes a look at Alexis Sanchez and Mayte Rodriguez's relationship including how they met and what their future holds.
Who is Mayte Rodriguez?
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Mayte Rodriguez was born in Santiago, Chile in 1989 to actress Carolina Arregui and the director Oscar Rodríguez Gingins, so had acting in her blood.
She started her television career as a teenager, appearing in three episodes of BKN following her debut in the Canal 13 programme Musica Libre. After appearing as a regular cast member in Feroz, she was one of the leads in Infiltradas, where she met Tiago Correa and began a relationship that lasted five years.
Rodriguez has appeared in a number of other popular Chilean television shows, including La Sexologa and Socias, as well as multiple films and adverts. She is currently starring as Antonia in young-adult thriller Dime quien fue.
How did she meet Alexis?
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Mayte revealed to Hola magazine that she had met Alexis at a barbecue shortly after her relationship with actor Tiago Correa ended. She had been dating Correa for five years, but did not begin dating Sanchez immediately after their introduction.
“I met Alexis when I was getting my life back on track," she told Hola. “I just lived the moment as I felt it. I flowed and we took the time we needed.
"We were getting to know each other and then it became a more serious relationship and we told our loved ones and the relationship became public. Things followed their course naturally like in any relationship. I think the most important thing is to be happy.”
Does Mayte Rodriguez attend Alexis's games?
There is no indication that Rodriguez attends any of Sanchez's games with his club, and it is unlikely that she would be willing to go to one of his matches with the Chile national team.
In September 2017, disgruntled Chile fans decided to stage a march protesting the couple's relationship, saying that it had caused the forward to get "fat and lazy" and thus had a negative impact on his performances with the national team.
Despite widespread interest in the event on Facebook, the march itself turned out to be a huge flop, with just five supporters turning up.
Do Alexis Sanchez and Mayte Rodriguez have children?
In December 2017, Mayte dismissed rumours that she was pregnant with Alexis's child, telling Hola: “The day God gifts me with a child, I’ll be the luckiest woman to give life.
“But I haven’t been nor am I pregnant, I’m just living a very beautiful moment in my life, enjoying the present and following my instinct and being faithful to my feelings.”
— Alexis Sánchez (@Alexis_Sanchez) January 22, 2018
A month later, Alexis was forced to respond to an English tabloid newspaper story claiming that he had a son as well as accusations of an affair, writing on Twitter that both allegations were untrue.
What does the future hold?
When interviewed by Hola in December, Mayte said that the couple were not rushing into anything, taking their time to build the relationship away from the media spotlight.
"I’m just enjoying a relationship with a partner, going slowly so we can get to know each other like any other couple," she said.
“I haven’t put my work or my projects which make me happy and fulfilled to one side.”
Rodriguez is currently filming her latest television show in Chile, and rumour is that she will join Sanchez in Manchester once she has finished recording.
Although the pair do not yet have any children, they will have a ready-made family in Manchester thanks to their love of dogs, with Sanchez bringing canine companions Atom and Humber with him from London.