The tussle to sign Alexis Sanchez has taken a fresh twist as Manchester United and Manchester City fight over the Arsenal striker.
According to The Sun, the Gunners reached out to the Red Devils with a suggestion that they might want to give them Anthony Martial in return for their South American hitman. But French broadcaster RMC says that United have “snubbed a swap deal” for Martial, with the club anxious to hold on to the 22-year-old Frenchman who is “highly rated” by Jose Mourinho.
Martial has scored nine goals this season and apparently the United gaffer believes that he’s on the brink of greatness. The same doesn’t go for Henrikh Mkhitaryan. The Sun claims that United are willing to let him go, but not even Arsenal are likely to be desperate enough to take the Armenian flop.
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Mourinho gave little away when asked about the situation in the wake of United’s 3-0 defeat of Stoke City last night.
“There is no news on Sanchez,” he told reporters. “He is an Arsenal player; if he stays it’s great for Arsenal, if he comes to us, great for us, if he goes to another club, great for them.
“There are probably other clubs also interested and trying and I shouldn’t talk about a player who is an Arsenal player.”
Asked if he was bullish about getting his man, the United manager said: “I am not confident but also not unconfident. If he stays it’s great for Arsenal, if he comes to us, great for us, if he goes to another club, great for them.”
Have City re-entered the race to land Sanchez? Yes, says the Manchester Evening News, which claims that Sky Blues boss Guardiola hasn’t given up on “beating United to Sanchez’s signature”.
It’s reported that the Spaniard, who was shaken after seeing City suffer their first Premier League defeat of the season on Sunday at the hands of Liverpool, is now determined to bring Sanchez to the Etihad.
That’s not what BBC Sport claims, however. In their version of events, City have categorically withdrawn from the bidding process after the board “decided the cost of pursuing the 29-year-old would be prohibitively expensive”.
The final word went to owner Khaldoon al Mubarak, says the Beeb, who pulled the plug on the South American because his wage demands would have put him “ahead of all City’s star men, something the club decided they would not do”.
And then to muddy the waters even more, there’s Sky Sports claim that Chelsea are “interested in signing Sanchez”.
Apparently Blues boss Antonio Conte is a huge admirer of the Arsenal star. He tried to sign Sanchez when he played for Udinese and he was managing Juventus.
Sky Sports says that although Chelsea have yet to make a formal offer, “they do have a history of flying under the radar when it comes to signing players”.
