Wenger wanted Mkhitaryan’s Man Utd team-mate in Sanchez swap deal

Arsene Wenger wanted Anthony Martial and not Henrikh Mkhitaryan as part of the Alexis Sanchez swap deal, it has been revealed.

Chile forward Sanchez finally left the Gunners in January in a rare straight swap deal with Manchester United that brought Armenia midfielder Mkhitaryan to The Emirates

The Daily Star claim Wenger, who waved good bye to Arsenal on Sunday after 22 years, wanted French winger Martial to come in and replace Sanchez, while head of recruitment Sven Mislintat wanted  Mkhitaryan, whom he had worked with at Borussia Dortmund.

“Starsport can also reveal Wenger wanted to keep pushing to swap Alexis Sanchez for Manchester United’s Anthony Martial in January,” claim the tabloid.

Wenger was ultimately over-ruled and he may well have known then that his time at the club was coming to an end. The 68-year-old Frenchman extended his contract by two years last summer after winning the FA Cup and all the indications are that he was intending in seeing out the remaining 12 months of his contract.

Last month Wenger admitted: “The timing was not really my decision. For the rest, I have spoken about it already.”

Mkhitaryan, who scored three goals in 15 appearances for the Gunners, recently claimed he did not arrive in north London to replace anyone.

“I didn’t come here to replace anyone. Everyone keeps saying that I’ve been part of a deal for Alexis Sanchez but it’s not true because he was running down his contract,” said Mkhitaryan.

“If he didn’t choose to come to Manchester United, he would have stayed at Arsenal until the summer.

“Everything was up to me. I’m not saying I was important in this aspect but I want everyone to understand I wasn’t made part of the deal for Alexis Sanchez.”