José Mourinho believes “other big clubs” are interested in the Arsenal forward, Alexis Sánchez, despite Manchester City appearing to clear the way for Manchester United to secure the Chile forward citing the escalating costs of any deal.

City have stepped back from the bidding, for now at least, for a player they had originally hoped to secure for around £20m in January. They suspect Chelsea, rival suitors last summer, have expressed late interest in Sánchez, despite the fact the Premier League champions would have to offer wages virtually double those paid to Eden Hazard to meet the Arsenal player’s salary demands. There has been no formal contact between the two London clubs.

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United would still appear to be firm favourites to secure the 29-year-old and are prepared to pay a hefty signing on fee, a salary of around £400,000-a-week and agent fees to his representative, Fernando Felicevich, for a player who is out of contract this summer. They would also be able to offer the unsettled Henrikh Mkhitaryan as part of any prospective deal to take the overall size of the package far closer to Arsenal’s £35m valuation.

Mourinho, speaking after Monday night’s win over Stoke City at Old Trafford, was relaxed about United’s pursuit of Sánchez. “No news on Alexis Sánchez,” he said. “He is an Arsenal player. If he stays it’s great for Arsenal. If he comes to us, great for us. If he goes to another club, great for them.

“I am not confident but also not... what is the opposite? ‘Unconfident’. 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 chance but most probably a player like him has other big clubs interested and who knows [what might happen]? Mr Wenger [Arsenal manager], Mr Gazidis [chief executive], they are the ones who know what is going to happen. Let’s see what happens.”

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Arsenal are interested in securing Mkhitaryan. “I didn’t select him today because I wanted players fully focused and I understand that with so much talk and speculation so it is not easy for Mkhitaryan to play,” said Mourinho. “So I prefer to protect him and the situation. If he stays here he is a very good player who season started very well and who then went a little bit down, but last season did amazing things for us. He helped us to win the Europa League, being one of the most important players.”

City’s hierarchy and the manager, Pep Guardiola, have apparently accepted the league leaders are not prepared to match the size of United’s proposal to Sánchez and believe the cost at present would eclipse the £60m they had agreed with Arsenal in the summer. It remains to be seen whether that stance is maintained if a move to a rival is not speedily concluded.

Conte has made no secret of his admiration for Sánchez, whom he tried to sign from Udinese during his time at Juventus, and suggested last week that a £20m fee for the Chilean to be “a good investment”. “We are talking about a top player and you can buy him for a price that is not so high,” he said. “The amount [being spoken about at that stage] is around £20m. Maybe a normal price for Alexis Sánchez is £80-90m. He knows well my admiration for him.”