If Manchester United buy Alexis Sanchez now they won’t need to spend big on another striker in the summer.
That is Jose Mourinho’s blunt message to transfer negotiator Ed Woodward.
The Old Trafford boss is pushing executive vice-chairman Woodward to make a deal for Sanchez happen – even though rivals and runaway Premier League leaders Manchester City remain favourites to sign the 29-year-old Chile star.
Mourinho wants another top attacker to add to Romelu Lukaku, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial with Zlatan Ibrahimovic set to leave in the summer.
And after hailing the availability of Sanchez as a “fantastic opportunity” Mourinho – preparing to face Stoke at Old Trafford on Monday night – is hoping a deal can be done with the Gunners.
City claim they will only pay a maximum £25million for Sanchez, who is out of contract in June. And they are not inclined to pay more than £285,000 a week in wages.
United already pay Ibra an eye-watering £367,000 and, until his move to Everton last summer, Wayne Rooney was on £300,000. So shelling out more than £300,000 a week to Sanchez would be no problem.
United have always paid a premium, with iconic stars like Eric Cantona, Cristiano Ronaldo and Rooney earning more than others in the dressing room.
And the Reds are prepared to match Arsenal’s £35million valuation for Sanchez – and give agent Fernando Felicevich a £5m fee on top of that.
That package is too rich for City – but there is no guarantee Sanchez will make the move to Old Trafford, even though Mourinho believes it could save United money in the summer window.
He said: “Let’s say we have three targets in the summer – a defender, a midfielder and an attacking player. If in the winter you do one of the three, then in the summer you do three minus one.
“If we do something now, we don’t do it in the summer again.
“Our plan was not to have new players in January. We build a squad with this idea and I share this philosophy with Mr Woodward and the owners.
“But if there is a fantastic opportunity on the table, you fight for that fantastic opportunity. If it happens, it happens.”