Manchester United seized a 'once in a generation opportunity' to snatch Alexis Sanchez for a bargain price, according to former Liverpool managing director Christian Purslow.
With the Chile international forward's Arsenal contract due to expire in the summer, the Gunners decided to offload Sanchez early following interest from Manchester City and Chelsea.
But United manager Jose Mourinho made Sanchez his No 1 transfer target and the 29-year-old ended up moving to Old Trafford in a swap deal for Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
Asked if he saw the deal with United coming, Purslow told Sky Sports: 'I think everyone thought that was a done deal [with City].