Sanchez just a sideshow for Jose
MANCHESTER: Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho said the club are still trying to sign Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal but added that the deal, which British media report could involve Henrikh Mkhitaryan moving in the other direction, was not done at all.
As talks continue, the Armenian midfielder has been left out of United’s squad for today’s clash with Burnley but Mourinho said at a news conference yesterday that he was unclear as to how close the two clubs were to closing the transfers.
“I think clearly everybody knows that we are there, and especially when the Arsenal manager speaks so clearly like he did there is no point in trying to hide or deny,” Mourinho said in reference to Arsene Wenger’s admission on Thursday that Sanchez might move to United within 48 hours.
“But it is 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 on the most important thing, which is the match.”
Sanchez was pictured training with Arsenal yesterday and could feature in the club’s game at home to Crystal Palace today.
Mourinho said he was not involved in the negotiations and, like everyone else, was waiting to be updated on their progress.
“Sometimes people think transfers involve a lot of the managers in the negotiations, I think it depends on the profile of the club, 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 be waiting for news, no more than that,” he said.
The Portuguese coach added that he will inform the media on his view on Sanchez if they eventually sign the Chile international.
“I will speak with you if one day we sign him, I can speak with you about him and what he can bring to our team. He’s an Arsenal player, he’s not my player, there’s no point in me speaking about something that may or may not happen.”
Mourinho said that defender Daley Blind has been ruled out of the Burnley game with injury.
Meanwhile, defender Virgil van Dijk is set to make his League debut for Liverpool after recovering from a hamstring issue, while club captain Jordan Henderson is also fit for Monday’s trip to Swansea City, manager Juergen Klopp said.
Liverpool’s record signing Van Dijk scored the winning goal in the 2-1 FA Cup third round victory over Everton this month but missed out as Liverpool ended league leaders Manchester City’s unbeaten run with a 4-3 win last week.
Henderson has missed the last four league games for the club after picking up a hamstring injury in Liverpool’s 3-3 draw with Arsenal last month.
“Virgil trained well,” Klopp told a news conference yesterday. “Hendo had a clearing session today and should be fine from tomorrow.”
Klopp is also monitoring the fitness of defender Ragnar Klavan and forward Mohamed Salah but said the duo should be available for the trip to the Liberty Stadium.
Liverpool beat Swansea 5-0 when the two sides met at Anfield on Boxing Day but Klopp believes his team face a big challenge in the return fixture after manager Carlos Carvalhal took charge of the Welsh side.
Swansea, who are bottom of the table with 17 points from 23 games, beat Watford 2-1 in Carvalhal’s first league game before suffering a 2-0 home defeat to Tottenham Hotspur and then held Newcastle United to a 1-1 draw last weekend.
“We played against (the team at) the top of the table and it was a fantastic game. We played Swansea a few weeks ago and the game was much more difficult than the result could let you think,” Klopp said.
“We know about the specific challenge in this game because they are now bottom of the table but they are in a good way... It will be different.”
Liverpool are third in the league, level with fourth-placed Chelsea on 47 points and are unbeaten in 14 games. – Reuters