Arsenal midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan has bizarrely claimed that he was not a part of the Alexis Sanchez swap deal and has also taken yet another dig at his former boss Jose Mourinho’s playing style.
The Armenia international’s move to the Emirates, which saw Sanchez move in the other direction to Old Trafford was the most high profile transfer of the January window.
Mkhitaryan has had a decent start to life in North London scoring twice and providing four assists. He was also quick to point out that he finds the fluid attacking football that Arsene Wenger encourages the Gunners to play, being more enjoyable than the pragmatic style favoured by his former coach at United Jose Mourinho.
However, his claims that he was not part of the Sanchez do seem a little strange, as ultimately two under contract players moved between clubs at the same time with no cash being exchanged, which is basically what a swap is. But heh, whatever helps you sleep at night Henrikh.
“I didn’t come here to replace anyone. Everyone keeps saying that I’ve been part of a deal for Alexis Sanchez but it’s not true because he was running down his contract,” He told FourFourTwo.
“If he didn’t choose to come to Manchester United, he would have stayed at Arsenal until the summer.
“Everything was up to me. I’m not saying I was important in this aspect but I want everyone to understand I wasn’t made part of the deal for Alexis Sanchez.
“We’re different players, we’re different characters, we have different abilities and skills.
“When I heard I could swap Manchester United for Arsenal, I said ‘yes I want to do that’.
“I wasn’t even thinking twice or thinking that maybe I don’t have to go. I said ‘no I want to go. I want to have more playing time. I want to enjoy playing attacking, offensive football’. I made the right decision coming here.”