Manchester United closing in on Alexis Sanchez

Arsene Wenger has admitted that he respects Manchester United for the way the club are operated, in what seems like a dig at the likes of Chelsea and Man City.

In the current market, Sanchez has a valuation of around £60million and is likely to be part of a cashless swap-deal involving Mkhitaryan that is deemed to be worth close to £35m.

Martin Keown has criticised Alexis Sanchez ahead of his proposed move to Man Utd, insisting Man City would have been “the natural place to go to develop his football“.

Benge’s examples are interesting since Kevin De Bruyne has thrived at Manchester City, where manager Pep Guardiola coaches a progressive brand of football.

The thoughts of Manchester United’s fans might have been on the possible arrival of Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal, but the players stayed focused on Monday to beat Stoke City 3-0 in the English Premier League at a rainy Old Trafford. “The wages will not be a problem”.

“I like their attacking play and fast style”. As long as it’s not over the line, you have to accept that it can as well not happen.

There’s no denying his creativity over the ball, as he proved himself to be a potent creative centre at Old Trafford this season before dropping form, and ultimately, his role down to the bench.

And the Blues were ready to renew their bid to sign the Chilean this month, before his agent bumped up the financial demands – which Manchester United were happy to meet.

Armenia global Mkhitaryan, 28, has not agreed terms on a move but was left out of the league win over Stoke on Monday, with manager Jose Mourinho confirming the decision was not tactical.

“Yes that is my understanding [that Mkhitaryan will join Arsenal]”, he said.

There have been worries that Arsenal will Utd not give Mkhitaryan the pay raise his agent, Mino Raiola, was requesting and that that could hold up the deal. “He appreciated the quality of our games and he loves the club”, he stated. That means Arsenal will definitely have to pony up the cash to sign him.

But with transfer reports speculating Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang could also be heading to the Emirates Stadium, supporters of the Gunners could be feeling more positive about the future.

The Gunners were after Mkhitaryan before he went to United and it looked for awhile like they were going to snag him.

Jose Mourinho does not feel he’s seen an improvement in Mkhitaryan’s consistency so would not begrudge him a switch and would therefore have more money to play with.