WHY SAY ANYTHING?

That’s an easy one, we can almost hear you say. Money, money and even more money!

Sorry, far too simplistic a reason and always the first excuse used when a player moves from one big club to another. In the case of Nemanja Matić, for example, he may be collecting a bigger pay packet at United but his primary reason for jumping the Chelsea ship was to rejoin José Mourinho, so the club and the salary whilst important, were secondary considerations.

Many players, over the last few years, have left Arsenal and, while Stubborn Old Man is in charge, will continue to do so. This again isn’t about money it’s about ambition and wanting to win trophies. Yes, if they are good enough, the player in question will always receive more money when he moves to a bigger club, but what difference to his lifestyle is an extra £50k per week really going to make when added to the £150k he is already being paid?

No, the only top club currently in danger of losing players to the lure of more money is Tottenham Hotspur who, as far as paying their players is concerned, are still in the dark ages.

In the case of Alexis Sánchez, however, it is not difficult to believe he is ambitious and wants to win things and, after winning nothing of note in four years at The Emirates, he decided it was time to move on. At 29 years of age he is reaching the last chance saloon for the major prizes.

His initial choices were, if you believe the press, Manchester City, Chelsea, Bayern Münich and PSG, although his preference was always to remain in England. This virtually ruled out the Germans and the French with the player deliberately pricing himself out of a move to Bavaria and PSG ending their interest.

Antonio Conte – An uncertain future did little to convince Sánchez that a move to Chelsea would be a good one

Chelsea were sailing through some choppy waters and there was some doubt, (as there still is), as to whether or not Antonio Conte would be remaining at the club beyond this season. It seems that Sánchez was looking for a club with some consistency and a settled manager.

Also, moving to Chelsea would have meant staying in London and it is fairly obvious that Sánchez, during his visits to Manchester, had had his head turned by the city and was desperate to move himself, his family and his dogs there as soon as was humanly possible

Consequently Manchester City were firm favourites to land the Chilean not only because of their trophy potential but also because Sánchez and Pep Guardiola had worked together at Barcelona and appeared to have a very good relationship.

So City ticked all of the boxes. Or did they?

One thing Sánchez could do nothing about was the fact that City were not prepared to pay more than £20 million for him and Arsenal wanted around £35 million. There was also the need for The Gunners to replace him, a stumbling block which had prevented him moving to City during the summer transfer window when, thanks to Wenger’s incompetence, they failed to sign Thomas Lemar from Monaco on the final day.

Thomas Lemar – Subject of a botched transfer attempt by Arsenal last summer

Step in Manchester United. Alexis Sánchez may well have been offered more money to join United but, as we said earlier, that would only ever be the deciding factor if everything else was exactly equal.

What he may have been offered was a regular place in the starting eleven. There is no way he would have been guaranteed that at City.

Yes, he would be collecting a Premier League winners medal but, being a proud man, he wouldn’t have thought he deserved it. He may have gone on to pick up a Champion’s League winners medal with City, but he may do just that with United.

He can still win the FA Cup with United while City have already been knocked out by Wigan.

So there are certainly advantages to joining José Mourinho at Old Trafford from the point of view of the player.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan – Went to Arsenal in a straight swap deal

What about Arsenal? Well, they got Henrikh Mkhitaryan in a straight swap and, in so doing, killed two birds with one stone. They got their replacement and, as he is valued at £35 million, they got their asking price for Sánchez.

Time will tell whether or not Sánchez has made the right move but the indications were all beginning to show that, if he wanted to stay in England, then Manchester United, not City, was the only club which suited him.