Alexis Sanchez has been omitted from the Arsenal squad for today’s trip to Bournemouth amid reports a transfer to Manchester United, not City, is now imminent.
Forget diplomatic groin strains, Sanchez trained yesterday, this is purely because a transfer is imminent. https://t.co/5IrYf2nmBu
— John Cross (@johncrossmirror) January 14, 2018
The Chilean forward trained as normal yesterday so injury is not an issue, leading many to assume that a conclusion to the transfer saga is increasingly near.
According to the Guardian, United have pipped their rivals by cobbling together a “much more lucrative package” that may or may not include Henrikh Mkhitaryan as a makeweight:
The sense at Arsenal is that Sanchez has had his head turned by it (United’s offer). Arsenal are interested in taking Henrikh Mkhitaryan from United, who they wanted in the summer of 2016 when he was leaving Borussia Dortmund only for him to choose the move to Old Trafford.
The Gunners are now resigned to lose their star man, but gaining Mkhitaryan as part of the dividend should definitely take the edge off.
He may have fizzled out in the most feeble of ways at United, but fully revitalised and firing on all cylinders, the Armenian whippet is an attacking force to be reckoned with.
If we were Arsenal right now, we know whose hand we’d be shaking.