'There is no point in trying to hide or to deny' - Jose Mourinho aims barb at Wenger for talking about Sanchez move
Arsene Wenger, left, and Jose Mourinho
Jose Mourinho
Jose Mourinho has insisted he will not make any comment on his pursuit of Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez, as he hinted Gunners boss Arsene Wenger was a little too open in his public comments on a swap deal involving Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
Mourinho claims he is calm over Sanchez's proposed move to United and confirmed Mkhitaryan will not feature in Saturday's Premier League game at Burnley while negotiations continue.
Gunners boss Arsene Wenger said on Thursday it was "likely" Sanchez would be a United player within 24 hours, yet Mourinho insists he is relaxed over a proposed deal that could see midfielder Mkhitaryan move in the opposite direction.
Yet he appeared to suggest Wenger was a little hasty to go into such detail over the most talked about transfer of 2018 so far when he spoke to the media about the deal on Thursday, with Mourinho offering more cautious comments in his latest press conference.
"Nothing new, I think clearly everybody knows that we are there and especially when Arsenal's manager speaks so clearly like he did there is no point in trying to hide or to deny," stated Mourinho.
"It's not done, not done at all, so in this moment Mkhitaryan our player, Sanchez an Arsenal player and with a match tomorrow I want to switch off and focus what is the most important thing, which is the match.
"I speak with you about him one day if we sign him. At the moment he is an Arsenal player."
Mourinho has often criticised rival managers for talking about his players as potential transfer targets and even though his club is about to do business with Wenger's Arsenal once again, it is clear that there is little love lost between two of the Premier League's most enduring enemies.
When asked whether the Sanchez deal relied on Mkhitaryan moving to north London as well, Mourinho replied: "I don't know.
"Sometimes people think transfers involve a lot the managers in the negotiations, I think it depends on the profile of the club, on the way we establish our jobs and in my case when it goes to the table of negotiations I like to be out, I am out and I will just calmly waiting for news, no more than that."
Mkhitaryan was left out of the United squad that faced Stoke on Monday due to the uncertainty over his future and Mourinho confirmed he would be absent at Burnley too.
Meanwhile, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has confirmed that he expects Sanchez to move to United, just a few months after his club had agreed a deal to sign the player from Arsenal.
"What I know is that he's still from Arsenal and it looks like he's going to Manchester United, and the players and coaches decide what's best for them," said Guardiola.
"My opinion of Alexis remains the same, it was a pleasure to be with him at Barcelona, I wish him the best. "
