- Jose Mourinho has confirmed Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s absence
- The Arsenal transfer target is not in Manchester United’s squad this weekend
- Mourinho has provided an update on the Alexis Sanchez transfer saga
- READ MORE: £79million star pushing for exit, favours Manchester United transfer over Chelsea
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has confirmed Henrikh Mkhitaryan will not be part of his squad this weekend to take on Burnley.
The Portuguese was quoted by BBC journalist Simon Stone as providing an update on the situation involving Arsenal and Alexis Sanchez.
Mourinho told reporters there was ‘nothing new’ on the saga, but said he would not deny interest in getting both deals over the line.
For the moment, however, Mkhitaryan remains a United player and Sanchez an Arsenal player, with the former attending training at the Red Devils’ Carrington complex today.
Jose: “Nothing new, I think clearly everybody knows that we are there and especially when @Arsenal manager speaks so clearly like he did there is no point in trying to hide or deny but not done at all, so in this moment Mkhitaryan our player, Sanchez an Arsenal player.”
— Simon Stone (@sistoney67) January 19, 2018
It remains to be seen how soon a transfer can be concluded, with Gianluca Di Marzio reporting that talks were held over both players yesterday and signs looking positive.
However, David Ornstein later claimed today that little progress has been made at Mkhitaryan’s end, even if Arsenal remained ‘hopeful’ of signing both the Armenian and Borussia Dortmund striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
No developments expected today on Sanchez/Mkhitaryan. Still work to do as currently Mkhitaryan deal hasn’t moved on & could yet go either way. Arsenal hopeful on that + Aubameyang. Talks continue. Malcom off – meetings held but eventually deemed too inexperienced #AFC #MUFC #BVB
— David Ornstein (@bbcsport_david) January 19, 2018
Fans of both clubs will surely just want this saga to stop dragging on, even if Arsenal supporters will be aware they’re getting the worse end of the deal.
Mkhitaryan may not be an ideal replacement for Sanchez, but if Aubameyang is brought in the club could be strengthened by replacing one attacker with two.