Alexis Sanchez was left out of the Arsenal squad for Saturday’s match against Crystal Palace as the Chile forward inches closer to joining Manchester United.
Sanchez is set to move to United in a blockbuster deal that will reportedly make him the Premier League‘s highest paid player.
On Friday, it was reported Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger
was giving serious consideration to including Sanchez in his squad to
face Palace and might have named his player among the substitutes.
But Wenger, who axed Sanchez from the squad for last
weekend’s loss at Bournemouth because of his pending move, has opted to
again leave out the former Barcelona star for Palace’s visit to the
Emirates Stadium.
Sanchez had been working with Arsenal’s development squad this week, but returned to senior training on Friday.
United will reportedly pay £35 million (39.6 million euros,
$48.5 million) for Sanchez, a £20 million transfer fee to Arsenal and
£15 million to the player’s agent Fernando Felicevich.
United midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan is said to have agreed to join Arsenal as part of the deal.
Sanchez will earn £350,000 a week plus an extra £100,000 a
week for image rights over the course of a four-and-a-half-year
contract.
He will also receive £7.5 million a year for four years as a signing-on fee.
Meanwhile, Arsenal were reported on Saturday to have made a
£44.1 million offer for Borussia Dortmund striker Pierre-Emerick
Aubameyang.
The 28-year-old was left out of the squad that drew against Hertha Berlin on Friday, which has stoked transfer speculation.
The German club said to be unwilling to let the Gabon international go for anything less than £53 million.
The Chilean’s switch could be announced later this evening
after reports Sanchez left Arsenal’s team hotel last night to complete
the move to Old Trafford.
The 29-year-old was in Arsene Wenger’s squad for the
clash with Crystal Palace today but was then pulled out as he bid
farewell to his teammates.
United’s Armenian playmaker Henrik Mkhitaryan is also
expected to move in the opposite direction after saying his goodbyes
after training on Friday.
According to the report, the two deals are separate after
the clubs were locked in negotiations over a straight swap with
contrasting valuations and contracts complicating the deal.
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