Alexis Sanchez is set to undergo his Manchester United medical today after saying his goodbyes to his Arsenal teammates on Friday night. The Chile international was set to be included in the Arsenal squad which is due to take on Crystal Palace at the Emirates Stadium at 15.00 but it now appears that Sanchez has played his final game for the Gunners. The 29-year-old left the team hotel on Friday night, according to the Mirror, and was bound for Manchester after the two Premier League heavyweights made a major breakthrough in a deal which also involves Henrikh Mkhitaryan moving in the opposite direction. It was originally proposed that Sanchez and Mkhitaryan would simply swap clubs without any transfer fee involved, but a deal of that nature proved impossible to broker given the different valuations, contract lengths and salaries involved.
Both deals will now be independent of one another and Arsenal are confident Mkhitaryan, who started the season brightly but has fallen out of favour with Jose Mourinho following a training ground bust-up, will complete his move to Arsenal in the coming days after saying a teary goodbye on Friday. The Armenia international has been left out of the United squad which takes on Burnley at Turf Moor this afternoon, despite Mourinho insisting the former Borussia Dortmund playmaker was in a ‘good condition’. Once the Mkhitaryan deal is completed, Arsenal are expected to switch their attentions to finalising a deal for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who was left out of the Dortmund team which drew 1-1 at Hertha Berlin on Friday night. Arsenal have reportedly, however, dropped their interest, until the summer at least, in Bordeaux winger Malcom, 20, with Arsene Wenger said to believe the proposed £45m fee was too much of a risk to take on such an inexperienced player.