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Arsenal 'wanted Anthony Martial in the Alexis Sanchez swap deal... but Arsene Wenger had to settle for Henrikh Mkhitaryan instead as Manchester United refused to let the France international leave'

Arsenal did not get their first-choice swap in the Alexis Sanchez deal, with Arsene Wenger having to settle for Henrikh Mkhitaryan over Anthony Martial, it has been reported.

Sanchez left the Gunners for Old Trafford in an ill-fated deal back in 2018, but it has now emerged that the final agreement was not quite the one Arsenal boss Wenger wanted.

ESPN report that he was desperate to sign his countryman Anthony Martial instead of Mkhitaryan, but United point-blank refused to sell him in the deal.

Arsene Wenger was keen to sign Anthony Martial over Henrikh Mkhitaryan back in 2018
United did not let Martial leave the club, and that looks to have been the correct decision

Two years on, and with the benefit of hindsight, the deal that did go through to take Sanchez to United and Mkhitaryan to Arsenal was a bad one for all involved.