- Jose Mourinho says Man United are ‘not un-confident’ of signing Alexis Sanchez
- United are the favourites to land the Arsenal star after Man City exited the race
- But Chelsea may make a move and Mourinho is aware of potential rival interest
Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho declared himself ‘not un-confident’ of completing a deal for Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez after watching his side beat Stoke.
United are the front runners to land the Chilean for a fee in the region of £35million after rivals Manchester City pulled out, but Chelsea are still said to be keen.
Speaking in his press conference following Monday night’s 3-0 win at Old Trafford, Mourinho admitted that United were unlikely to be the only team intent on re-homing the unsettled former Barcelona winger.
Jose Mourinho has said Manchester United are ‘not un-confident’ of signing Alexis Sanchez
Discussing his hopes of signing Sanchez, Mourinho said: ‘Not confident but also not, what is the opposite? Un-confident.
‘Just relaxed, we have a feeling he is an Arsenal player — he can stay there — but also a feeling he can move and, if he moves, I think we have a chance.
‘But most probably a player like him has other big clubs interested.
‘I think him, Mr (Arsene) Wenger, Mr (Ivan) Gazidis, they are the ones who know what is going to happen.’
Henrikh Mkhitaryan was left out of the United squad against Stoke amid speculation that he may be used as a makeweight in a potential part-exchange deal with Arsenal.
Mourinho explained: ‘I didn’t select him today because I wanted players fully focused and I understand that, with so much talk and speculation, it is not easy for Mkhitaryan to play at home.
‘So I prefer to protect him and the situation. If he stays here he is a very good player that started the season very, very well and has come a little bit down.
‘But last season he did amazing things for us, helped us to win the Europa League, being one of the most important players.’
