Arsenal should look to sign Manchester United‘s Henrikh Mkhitaryan if Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil leave the Emirates, Paul Merson has said. Arsene Wenger confirmed on Friday that Sanchez, 28, is unlikely to extend his stay at Arsenal, with his current contract set to expire in the summer. Manchester City were frontrunners to sign the Chilean but have reportedly pulled out of a January deal, leaving Manchester United at the front of the queue to secure his signature.
German international Ozil has also been linked with a move to Old Trafford, although Wenger has not given up hope of securing his services on a long-term contract. But if both Sanchez and Ozil do indeed leave Arsenal, Merson believes Wenger should try to bring Mkhitaryan to the Emirates. The Armenia international joined United in the summer of 2016 for around £30million but has struggled, with Mourinho said to be willing to offload him either this month or the summer. ‘I think selling Sanchez to United and getting Mkhitaryan in return would work,’ Merson told Sky Sports Soccer Saturday.
‘I honestly believe Mkhitaryan is one of the best players in the Premier League, his confidence is just shot at United. ‘If Arsenal could get him playing like he was at Borussia Dortmund they would have one of the best players in the league. ‘That would represent a good deal because Arsenal will not have a star if Sanchez and Ozil go.’ City are believed to have ended their interest in Sanchez due to his wage demands and Arsenal’s determination to recoup around £30m.
That leaves the door wide open for Mourinho, who labelled Sanchez as ‘phenomenal’ this week, confirming United’s interest in securing a deal. ‘I don’t know if it is ethical or correct. The word we can find to be speaking about players of other clubs,’ Mourinho said. ‘If somebody speaks of one of my players to tell we are interested or we are not interested, I wouldn’t be very, very happy. ‘Sanchez is an Arsenal player, I don’t know but probably this weekend he is going to defend Arsenal colours so I don’t think it’s correct to say things about Alexis Sanchez. Who are Arsenal's transfer targets? Play Video Loaded: 0% 0:00Progress: 0% PlayMute Current Time 0:00 / Duration Time 0:00 Fullscreen
‘At the general level what I can say is myself and the Manchester United board, the owners, we don’t believe a lot in the January market, we don’t believe in signing a player just to sign a player, just to do something, we don’t believe in that. ‘What we believe really is there are some players in football world if you have the chance to sign them in January, in March or in July, you have to try and that’s it. ‘But in relation to Alexis Sanchez I don’t say a word, the only word I can say is he is a phenomenal player, apart from that an Arsenal player and I feel I shouldn’t say much more than this.’
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