Swapping Henrikh Mkhitaryan for Alexis Sanchez was a big mistake by Jose Mourinho. Manchester United could end up pay for it once again

When Manchester United swapped Henrikh Mkhitaryan for Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez in January, we thought it was a steal. But it turns out it was us who got the raw deal…

Seeing Henrikh Mkhitaryan play in an Arsenal shirt is depressing.

When Manchester United signed the Armenian in the summer of 2016 from Borussia Dortmund, we thought we had signed a world-class playmaker.

But in the one-and-a-half seasons he had at Old Trafford, Mkhitaryan was hugely underwhelming.

In order to save face, Jose Mourinho managed to swap the under-performing forward midway through the 2017/18 season for Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez – one of the best players in the league at the time.

And yet, Sanchez’s signing has ended up being an even bigger embarrassment for Mourinho than Mkhitaryan’s was.

Since his move to Old Trafford, Sanchez has only managed four goals and seven assists, whereas Mkhitaryan has managed five goals and nine assists in the same period.

Keep in mind that Sanchez scored a whopping 80 goals and registered 45 assists during his time at Arsenal. So although his numbers now are only slightly lower than that of Mkhitaryan’s, Sanchez came with a much bigger reputation.

Last season, both players faced their old clubs in Manchester United’s Premier League clash with Arsenal at Old Trafford back in April.

While Sanchez went missing for United throughout the whole game, Mkhitaryan managed to score against his old club to give Arsenal the equaliser.

Thankfully, Marouane Fellaini eventually scored the winner to seal a 2-1 win, but questions over Sanchez’s dedication were rightfully raised after the game.

United face Arsenal at Old Trafford again tonight, with Sanchez set to miss the game due to injury.

Not that we’d miss him, of course.

Mkhitaryan, on the other hand, will be hungry to score against his old club once again in revenge for selling him, meaning the United may continue to suffer for the mistake that was the regrettable signing Alexis Sanchez.

Catch Manchester United vs Arsenal on Wednesday 5 December at 20:00 GMT.