Arsenal are reportedly holding out for around £12m plus Henrikh Mkhitaryan before they allow Alexis Sanchez to sign for Manchester United.
Mkhitaryan’s move to Arsenal has allegedly slowed down because the Gunners are holding out for £12m as well as the player.
Although it was understood that United could pay Arsenal around £30m for Alexis outright, it turns out that we’d much rather have the player-plus-cash. We basically want to have our cake and eat it.
In today’s market and in his current form, most believe that Mkhitaryan would cost around £25m-£30m outright, which is how much the Red Devils paid Dortmund for him back in 2016.
Therefore, around £12m-plus-Mkhitaryan does make sense.
On the other hand, Arsenal fans are anxious that their club is putting the whole transfer in jeopardy by penny-pinching.
Alexis doesn’t want to be at the club anymore and bringing in a fresh player would be good for us. No one wants to be stuck with the stroppy Chilean for another six months before we lose him on a free.
The 29-year-old has supposedly already put pen to paper on a four-and-a-half year deal with United, which will see him earn £14m-a-year after tax.
The BBC’s David Ornstein also claims that the deal hasn’t developed any further today (Friday).
Keep up-to-date with this story as it develops here.