WHY SAY ANYTHING?

Apparently, Henrikh Mkhitaryan not only holds the key to the Alexis Sánchez transfer, he IS the key.

Without his agreement to go in the opposite direction and turn out for Stubborn Old Man for the next eighteen months or so the deal could collapse.

As reported in The Guardian, the Armenian doesn’t see himself as a makeweight in this saga, but as a very important ingredient and, as he is not agitating for a move and is quite happy to remain at Old Trafford, he is carefully weighing up his options.

Staying with United and regaining some confidence could very well see him taking part in the knockout stage of the Champion’s League, an experience he would be denied this year and, probably, next year if he were to move to The Emirates.

By the time Arsenal have a new manager Mkhitaryan will be 30 years old and, even then, there will be no guarantees of winning anything with The Gunners.

There also haven’t been any talks between the player and Arsenal so it is unknown whether he would be expected to take a reduction in wages as well.

When all things are considered, it is difficult to see how a move to London would be of any benefit whatsoever to Mkhitaryan.

His current manager, José Mourinho, has also said that he is not trying to push him out and would be happy if he stayed so that, in a warped kind of way, is actually making the decision as to whether to leave or not even more difficult.

So he may feel he is better off refusing the move.

What implications would that choice have on the Sánchez transfer? Only time will tell. Arsenal are said to want Mkhitaryan as part of the deal but are also looking at Thomas Lemar and Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang so either one of those two arriving may mean that Arsenal would be prepared to sell Sánchez in a cash only transaction.

How does that fit with United? Not particularly well because, again according to The Guardian, they were hoping to get him for around £30 million plus Mkhitaryan. This deal would have valued the Armenian at around £30 million so the total would be £60 million and United would have disposed of a very high earning player.

Without Mkhitaryan agreeing to the move United face the prospect of having to pay the whole £60 million, (transfer fee, agent’s fee, signing-on fee etc), for a player whose contract expires in four months.

It may not seem quite so attractive a proposition when viewed under that particular light.

The grand old BBC are convinced that no agreement has been reached between the two clubs whilst Sky Sports News are reporting that the deal, should it go through, would be a straight swap involving no money, so it is up to you, our long-suffering readers, to decide who to believe.

We don’t make it up, we just report and discuss it!

Marouane Fellaini

Marouane Fellaini got injured, disappeared from the first team picture and was reported to be refusing to sign a new contract with United.

This last bit seemed a little strange given that he had won over the majority of the United fans who had previously blamed him for anything that went wrong at Old Trafford. He had even become a cult hero to some.

It seemed that he now wanted to bite the hand that was feeding him very well. Had he had a sudden rush of blood to the head? Was he suffering from some kind of personality disorder which caused him to want to self-destruct when everything was going well?

Apparently, some people are not happy when things are going well and can only cope with life when there are problems. Is Fellaini one of these people?

It turns out he is not. So fear not, United fans, there is no truth in the rumour that he was refusing the offer of a new contract, it seems he has gone completely the other way and is now, in his mind, worth a lot more than he is being offered and wishes to make some hay while the sun is shining. (A particularly inapt metaphor when considering that he is in Manchester in January!)

Forgive him for he knows not what his agent does and he will, more than likely, stick around Old Trafford for a while yet because there are still future games in which his silky ball skills and graceful runs down the wing will be required.

He’s going nowhere just yet, (unless Arsenal want him as part of the Sánchez deal, of course, but we’d prefer it if they took Donkey Smalling).