Arsenal transfer news: Sanchez-Mkhitaryan swap deal DONE, BIG Aubameyang hint, and more - 23rd January 2018

Sanchez-Mkhitaryan swap deal done

After several days of speculation, Alexis Sanchez left Arsenal to join Manchester United with Henrikh Mkhitaryan going the opposite way to join the Gunners. Both clubs made the announcement at around the same time.

Sanchez was given the iconic no.7 jersey at Old Trafford while Mkhitaryan's shirt number is yet to be confirmed. The Armenian international, as per Arsenal's club website, spoke about his move and said:

“I’m very happy that we could finish this deal and I’m very happy to be here. It’s a dream come true because I’ve always dreamed of playing for Arsenal. Now that I’m here, I’ll do my best for this club to create history.”

Arsene Wenger praised the 29-year old's abilities and said:

“Henrikh is a very complete player. He creates chances, he defends well, he can absorb distances and he’s very committed as well. I must say he’s a player who has all the attributes.”

Further, according to Manchester United's website, Mkhitaryan's former boss at United, Jose Mourinho, wished the attacker on his move and said:

“I would like to wish Henrikh all the success and happiness that I am sure he is going to get. He is a player that we will not forget, especially for his contribution to our Europa League victory.”

Meanwhile, As quoted by the Red Devils' website, Sanchez thanked the Gunners' faithful for their support while speaking about his move and said:

“I am thrilled to be joining the biggest club in the world. I have spent three-and-a-half wonderful years at Arsenal and I bring with me very positive memories of that great club and its fans. The chance to play in this historic stadium and to work with Jose Mourinho was something I could not turn down. I am very proud to be the first Chilean player ever to play for United’s first team and I hope I can show our fans all around the world why the club wanted to bring me here.”

Thus, Arsenal lost a player in the final six months of his contract while signing a quality and experienced attacker in Mkhitaryan, making them come out of the situation better than one would expect from a month ago.

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Mkhitaryan appears to drop Aubameyang transfer hint

Aubameyang, you listening?

The Borussia Dortmund marksman is of interest to Arsenal with the Bundesliga club CEO, Hans-Joachim Watzke, confirming the first bid from the Gunners recently, according to RuhrNachrichten.de.

Now, new signing Mkhitaryan looks to have dropped a transfer hint in a video which was initially added to Arsenal's official feed before being taken down.

In the video, the Armenian appears to be calling out his former team-mate by saying:

"Yo Pierre, you wanna come out here?"

Turn volume to max, you can hear the words "Yo Pierre, you wanna come out here?"[🎥: @Blacazette] pic.twitter.com/bSLLBoHkkH

— Emirates HQ (@EmiratesHQ) January 22, 2018

Irrespective of whether this was a deliberate leak from the club or otherwise, Arsenal fans could have another reason to be excited if Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang does join before the transfer window closes.

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Arsenal expected to bid for Lucas Moura

PSG are willing to sell Lucas this month

The Brazilian winger has seen his playing time cut short in Paris Saint-Germain with the attacking additions of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe in the summer. French TV station, Telefoot, have stated that the 25-year old is set to leave France in this transfer window with the capital club valuing the player at €30 million.

Further, Telefoot claims that PSG are not looking for a loan deal and want to sell the player. Another French outlet, L'Equipe backs these claims by stating Tottenham's loan request was rejected on the same grounds.

Now, Telefoot claims that Arsenal could make a bid for Lucas soon while understanding that the player could move to China as well, with two Chinese Super League clubs interested in his services.

If Arsenal do indeed sign Lucas, he will provide pace, width and possibly a more consistent end product than Theo Walcott, who left the Gunners for Everton in this window.