5 questions to answer post the Alexis Sanchez-Henrikh Mkhitaryan swap deal

It has finally been made official. This outcome wasn't foreseen in the summer, especially with how Pep Guardiola and Alexis Sanchez enjoyed a good professional relationship during their time at Barcelona.

But as soon as Manchester City backed out for reasons that they found right, this was the only other alternative and it was coming. It was soon confirmed by Wenger that this deal was nearing its conclusion.

On Monday evening (UK time), the clubs, in this modern era, took to their social media platforms to officially announce their new signings in their own manner.

While the dominant colour of their jersey doesn't change much - they still will wear red, they have now moved to different cities and will live in different environments with different challenges. Alexis Sanchez is now a Manchester United player, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, an Arsenal player.

With no cash involved and it being a straight-swap deal, the balance sheets for the clubs in question wouldn't have any impact. In an era where transfer fees have skyrocketed, this is what you could call a traditional and a fair deal for both parties.

While there are enough positive vibes, there are still some lingering questions on what you could interpret out of this deal. With that said, let's take a look at the 5 questions that stand out from this transfer deal which is sure to impact the immediate and perhaps the long-term future of the two clubs:

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#5 Is Arsenal a selling club?

Robin van Persie left Arsenal and became a Premier League medal winner within a year

While we all would agree that no player is bigger than the club, more so when the stature of a club is as big as Arsenal's, it's important to think of what has really happened to Arsenal over the years.

Club legends like Thierry Henry did leave Arsenal but not before they gave a lot to their fans, gained a lot of accolades, established their legendary status, got their statues in front of the stadiums, and left gracefully.

In contrast, we now see players leave and go as if it's perhaps a stepping stone. It could arguably be said that the players necessarily know that they may not challenge, let alone win, for any trophies. The fans are eventually getting accustomed to that as well.

While players such as Robin van Persie, Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas leaving was seen as something inevitable and for financial reasons, the club now lacks a real sense of ambition, and Alexis Sanchez looks to be the first one to leave for that reason.

Where has the all the passion, intensity and the challenge gone? Do Arsenal only care about positive cash flow from transfers now?

#4 Where does Alexis Sanchez play?

Where do I play now?

Alexis starred in Udinese, first as a right winger and then as a No. 10 or a false 9. At Barcelona, he was predominantly a right-winger, supporting the legendary Lionel Messi.

Arsenal is where he arguably shone the brightest where he would often play as a left-winger or a central striker.

However, United have a couple of good options on the left in the shape of Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford. The right-wing, and even the No. 10 spot have no such stand out players with both Jesse Lingard and Juan Mata moving in and out of the starting line-up.

Considering how Martial and Rashford struggle on the right, it looks unlikely for Sanchez to continue playing on the left.

The most likely option seems that Sanchez would start through the middle as a no. 10 with Jesse Lingard playing on the right. Another option would be to play Sanchez as a second striker in a 4-4-2 formation.

#3 Where does Henrikh Mkhitaryan play?

Where does Mkhitaryan play?

Similar to the Sanchez conundrum, Arsenal will have to find a position for Mkhitaryan to fit into. His favoured position is being the central attacking midfielder but Arsenal’s current best offensive player, Mesut Ozil also plays there and it seems highly unlikely that the Armenian will get to play in that role, at least until the summer.

He has also played at the right side of the attack for United and for now, that looks like the position that he will occupy for Arsenal.

It also needs to be noted that he failed to thrive without Paul Pogba in that United lineup, which means there is a dire need for a proper central midfielder to support his agility and technique.

Arsenal have a couple of them in Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey but can they help him revive his confidence?

#2 What about Arsenal's future?

Is he going to be the next one to leave?

Someone in the Arsenal management team seems to have forgotten to look at the numerous expiring contracts of the Arsenal players.

With Mesut Ozil's and Jack Wilshere’s contracts expiring at the end of the season and with as many as nine contracts expiring in 2019, most notable of which are those of Aaron Ramsey, Petr Cech, Olivier Giroud and Danny Welbeck, this leaves them in a very vulnerable position.

These are key top players and, as some would say, the backbone that is keeping Arsenal alive and helps them compete for the Top 6 places. Losing them for free and replacing them will cost huge amounts of money, and Arsenal would ideally want to resolve that situation as soon as possible.

It's pretty strange that they didn't learn anything from the Wenger contract situation last time around!

#1 Has Manchester United's academy been left behind?

'The Class Of 92', will we ever see another class coming in from United?

Manchester United have always found pride in players emerging from their academy who have been a vital part of the club’s winning fabric. However, in the last few years, the academy has failed to produce any notable players apart from Marcus Rashford, who himself was a lucky beneficiary of an injury to Anthony Martial.

The club's stars have been sending their sons to the Academy of Manchester City, signalling that the Academy of City is superior at this moment. This also reflects the lack of return in terms of trophies in recent times for the Under-23s and the Under-18s.

Surely, this would have been discussed by those in the upper echelons of United’s’ hierarchy? The sooner the academy returns to its glory days the better for the Red Devils.