Sports: Henrikh Mkhitaryan agent breaks silence over Manchester United Alexis Sanchez deal

manchestereveningnews.co.uk
 Tuesday 12:42 PM GMT


Henrikh Mkhitaryan agent breaks silence over Manchester United Alexis
Sanchez deal

Manchester United have been pursuing the Arsenal forward and the
Armenian could be part of the deal.

By Anthony Jepson


Henrikh Mkhitaryan's agent Mino Raiola says his client holds the key
toManchester United's pursuit ofAlexis Sanchez.

But he saysMkhitaryanwill not be railroaded into a move away from Old
Trafford - and insists the Armenian is not part of the Sanchez but
deal it is the other way round.

United are favourites to sign the Arsenal forward afterCity pulled out
of the racefor the Chilean.

The Reds are willing to meet the £35 million asking price for the
29-year-old, but have offered Mkhitaryan as part of the deal.

Raiola toldThe Times: "Manchester United is not going to sign Sanchez
unless Mkhi agrees to join Arsenal.

"Mkhi has not decided yet. 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.

"Sanchez is part of the Mkhi deal, not the other way around."

United manager Jose Mourinho has admittedhe is open to moving the
underperforming Mkhitaryan on, saying: "Is it possible he
[Mkhitaryan]s going to be involved in the deal?

"It's possible. It's also possible he stays. I didn't select him
(against Stoke) because I wanted players fully focused and I
understand that with so much talk and so much speculation it is not
easy for Mkhitaryan to play at home with this feeling, can happen,
maybe doesn't happen.

"My approach to players is that every player has a price.

United showed Alexis Sanchez more commitment than City - it's simple

"So when the transfer window is open is also open for any club that is
interested in our players, then it's up to us to make the decision yes
or no, it's up to us to decide what we think is the right price."

Of United's pursuit of Sanchez, Mourinho said on Monday night
following the win over Stoke: "Not confident but also not, what is the
opposite? Unconfident. Just relaxed.

"We have a feeling that he is an Arsenal player, we have a feeling
that he can stay there, but also a feeling he can move and if he moves
I think we have a chance but most probably a player like him has other
big clubs interested and who knows."

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