Arsenal

Raiola: Sanchez move to Man United faces collapse

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Image for Raiola: Sanchez move to Man United faces collapse

Mino Raiola has claimed in the Times that Manchester United’s pursuit of Alexis Sanchez is off unless his client Henrikh Mkhitaryan agrees to join Arsenal.

United are the strong favourites to sign Sanchez from Arsenal after Manchester City pulled out of the race to sign the player because of the spiralling costs of the deal, including add-ons and agent fees.

The Times report that Jose Mourinho’s side are willing to meet the £35million asking price for the Chile international but offered their playmaker Mkhitaryan as part of the deal.

Raiola, who represents Mkhitaryan, told The Times on Tuesday: “Manchester United are not going to sign Sanchez unless Mkhi agrees to join Arsenal. Sanchez is part of the Mkhi deal, not the other way around.”

Raiola insists the Armenia international is yet to decide whether he wants to join Arsenal and this puts the double deal at the point of collapse.

“Mkhi is going to do what is best for him. He has two-and-a-half years left on his contract, so it’s his decision.”

OPINION

On the face of it, Raiola’s update on the Sanchez-Mkhitaryan swap deal is an unwelcome one from the point of view of United fans keen for their club to recruit the red hot Chilean forward. It is also somewhat perplexing, given that reports have stated United are willing to meet the full Arsenal asking price for Sanchez. If that was the case, why would their pursuit collapse if Mkhitaryan doesn’t fancy a move to Arsenal. Is super-agent Raiola merely muddying the waters with a few half or non-truths as he bigs up his client, whose confidence has been shattered under Mourinho’s authoritarian regime? It is plausible that the Armenian doesn’t want to move to Emirates Stadium, but that should not stop the Sanchez-United move going through.

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