5 talking points from the 'Alexis Sanchez to Manchester' transfer saga

#2 Arsenal's perspective

To sell now in the middle of the season or for free in the summer?

Arsenal are guilty of leaving the contract extensions of their best players hanging in the air for too long. Now they face the prospect of either losing their 2 time Player of the Season on a free transfer or selling him right now for a small amount.

But with United registering interest, the bidding war that is expected to follow will please the Arsenal board. Wenger would be aware that selling to United will invite a possible backlash from the fans for obvious reasons, after what happened with the sale of Robin van Persie to Manchester United.

The general idea is that Wenger will be looking to add some personnel to his squad before sanctioning Sanchez’s sale to any of the Manchester clubs. The player who looks most likely to join the Gunners' setup is Malcom from Bordeaux.

The Brazilian winger has been learning English and his agent was reportedly spotted in London on 12 January, as per reports in The Sun.