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Gossip: Chelsea 'hijack Sanchez bid', Mkhitaryan 'key to Arsenal deal', Ronaldo 'wants Man Utd return'
Between them, Philippe Coutinho and Alexis Sanchez have kept numerous tabloid content producers in a job these past few months with their endless, mind-numbing, will they-won’t they, yes-they-obviously-will-eventually transfer sagas.
But arghh – this gravy train could soon be juddering to its inevitable halt. Coutinho is gone, and Sanchez is apparently set to follow him “within days”.
So like proud yet terrified Tommies hurling themselves over the front for the last big push, those doomed journos are going out all guns blazing before they all get made redundant.
Man City have pulled out of the race for Alexis; Man Utd are odds-on to sign him. But no – this does NOT end here. Because what about if the Chilean superstar moves to Chelsea instead?
READ MORE: United sweep aside Potters to close gap on City
READ MORE: Jose ‘would gladly swap Mkhitaryan for Sanchez’
This is the hypotheses proposed to by today’s Sun, which claims that the Blues are set to rival United with a last-minute bid for the Arsenal forward.
“It’s Al Out War” screams its back page, framing the contest as an extension of the bitter feud between managers Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte.
The Express backs them up on this idea, claiming Chelsea are set to “hijack” Alexis’ move to Old Trafford, just as the Red Devils hijacked his move to Man City.
The financial package that evidently scared off the Etihad club reportedly totals £65m – including a £25m signing-on fee for Sanchez and another £5m for his agent.
Mourinho is reportedly “confident” of beating Conte to the 29-year-old’s signature because he believes he can seduce Arsene Wenger with a part-exchange deal for Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Telegraph). Failing that, he will attempt to seduce him in the old-fashioned way: red wine and romance.
Does Ronaldo want Man Utd move?
But Mourinho will allegedly reject the chance to team up Alexis with Cristiano Ronaldo in the world’s sexiest ageing attack. Despite a report in the Spanish paper AS that CR7 has his heart set on a return to Old Trafford, Red Devils “sources” have told ESPN that they think the reports in Spain are a load of codswallop.
Meanwhile, Besiktas could ruin both Mourinho and Wenger’s plans by signing Mkhitaryan all for themselves. The Mirror says the Turkish side will rival the Gunners in the race to sign the Armenian playmaker, while they are also interested in poaching Danny Welbeck from the Emirates as a replacement for Everton new boy Cenk Tosun.
READ MORE: Gossip – Sanchez ‘to join United within 48 hours’
READ MORE: Nine players clubs REGRETTED selling to a direct rival
Dat Guy Welbz is not the only Gunners forward who could be on the move, with the Star claiming Wenger has offered Olivier Giroud to Borussia Dortmund as part of his bid to sign their Gabonese goal machine Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Elsewhere, Bournemouth have joined Everton and Southampton in the race to sign Theo Walcott (Sun), Swansea could revitalise their Premier League survival bid by signing Kevin Gameiro and Nicolas Gaitan from Atletico Madrid (Wales Online) and West Ham fear striker Andy Carroll “had his head turned” by reported interest from Chelsea (Mirror). Which is great, because the swish of Carroll’s ponytail as he turns his head is one of the most beautiful things in football.
