We can all salute Alexis Sanchez for this gesture

How often do we hear about the planet's top footballers being overpaid?

While the lavish spending of some of the game's biggest names attract their fair share of negative headlines, this story should remind us that they're certainly not all this way. Alexis Sanchez certainly fits in to the bracket of well-paid elite footballers. As well as showing his class in an Arsenal shirt last season, he also cemented his status as national hero after tucking away Chile's final-winning penalty in the Copa America. But the lifestyle and money he might receive as reward for his talent have not eroded his sense of where he's from. When his home town of Tocopilla was recently devastated by storms and the resulting floods, Sanchez didn't think twice about helping out.

Aquí di mis primeros pasos .. Aquí aprendí a jugar al fútbol.. de aquí es mi gente y mi familia, que me vieron crecer ... gracias a donde me crié , ahora soy quien soy . ⚽️alexis Sánchez⚽️ ..gracias Tocopilla Vamos a salir otra vez adelante como lo hicimos en el terremoto del 2007 ... Espero que nos escuchen todos los chilenos y la gente que está encargada de solucionar estos problemas que son de la naturaleza ... Fuerza Tocopilla y todo el norte de Chile .. ???❤️

A photo posted by Alexis Sanchez (@alexis_officia1) on Aug 10, 2015 at 7:31am PDT

The Arsenal man sent two lorries filled with first aid equipment, bottled water and other supplies to his help the people in town, with Sanchez's family also helping to coordinate the relief effort.

"He hasn’t forgotten about his land and that’s why he wanted to be involved," Tocopilla's mayor Fernando San Roman said.

"He spoke to us in order to send aid to the people of Tocopilla. We initially discussed bottled water, some basic first-aid products and clothing among other things and it’s already in the region."

https://twitter.com/sanromantoco/status/633651284399292416?lang=en

While we can all respect Sanchez's abilities with a ball at his feet, this story tells us that he's a pretty decent human being, too.

H/T Metro