Manchester United would be willing to trump Manchester City in both fee and wages for Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez, and even offer Henrikh Mkhitaryan, if they get any signal that the Chilean would move to Old Trafford.

While United are not yet actively attempting to hijack the deal, as they are well aware of Sanchez’s desire to work with Pep Guardiola, they are fully prepared to jump on any opportunity or take advantage of any hiccup.

Sanchez is desperate to leave Arsenal and join up with his former manager at Barcelona, Guardiola, in this window, but City are so far offering only £20m, since they could get him on a free in the summer.

United would be willing to go to £25m and offer Mkhitaryan, who has never really flourished under Jose Mourinho. That might be more amenable to Arsenal, but the bigger challenge remains convincing Sanchez. He still has his heart set on City.

Some close to the situation feel that the idea of Sanchez moving to United should not be completely ruled out, but that it would take something "extraordinary".

The player has already turned down an offer of higher wages from Paris Saint-Germain, because of his desire to work with Guardiola. The Catalan coach's influence is seen as key, even though United's offer may force City to pay that bit more to clinch the deal.

Meanwhile, it's understood Mkhitaryan would be willing leave Old Trafford and has been linked with a return to his former club Borussia Dortmund in this window, but that move is likely to prove complicated given his salary demands.