Yahoo Sport 
Fair exchange? Mourinho offers Mkhitaryan as bait to get Sanchez but do swap deals ever work?
It’s not been a part of a transfer deal for years. Admittedly there’s probably a very good reason for that.
The player-plus-cash swap deal seemed to be a thing of the past, until Jose Mourinho had his lightbulb moment this morning.
On paper, it’s a great idea. You need to freshen things up, the player you want has been great for a team below you in the table. Technically your guy should fit in quite well there, especially if they play a similar role.
READ MORE: Man United look to hijack City’s Sanchez deal
READ MORE: Three Serie A players that Premier League bosses should look at
Mourinho is trying to use out-of-favour Henrikh Mkhitaryan as bait to snare Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal.
It’s a surprise that clubs don’t attempt it more often, but perhaps not a shock they don’t get such ideas over the line with players hardly going to be happy being used as a piece of meat, feeling unwanted and unloved.
The makeweight used to be commonplace before clubs could afford the extra few million to bung at clubs to get things sped up.
That and the track record of players moving as an add-on hardly carries much to convince.
The last big one was probably the biggest success. William Gallas traded by Chelsea for Ashley Cole and around £5m. Although the Gunners fans happy with the Frenchman’s performance said they got the better end of the deal, the reality is that Cole even in 2006 was a £25m full-back.
The Premier League’s most famous exchange deal was Andy Cole’s £7m-plus-Keith Gillespie switch from Newcastle United to Manchester United in 2005. The Toon were going for the title and replacing their goal machine with a winger wasn’t a crowd pleaser.
The biggest names to swap clubs has to be Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Samuel Eto’o. Both in their prime, the Cameroon forward went to Inter from Barcelona – with around €46 million to give the president in his suitcase. Oddly, Zlatan was the bigger failure.
READ MORE: Arsenal legend admits Ozil would be a better player at Man Utd
READ MORE: Sanchez gives everything for Arsenal insists Wenger
One club thankful of such a deal was West Ham back in. They traded Tottenham Jermain Defoe for £7m and Bobby Zamora. The striker went on to score the winning goal in their 2005 Championship play-off final – pocketing the club well over £100m with one kick.
The idea wasn’t just thought up in the Premier League era. Ricky Villa, the Spurs favourite, was the makeweigh in the deal that brought Ossie Ardiles to English football after the 1978 World Cup finals.
Gareth Barry has played in the Premier League more than anyone else but did you know his big move to Aston Villa came about because of Michael Standing.
He went with him to Villa Park, but in five years didn’t make a single appearance!
