Arsenal wanted Martial in the Sanchez swap deal with Man Utd in 2018 (ESPN)

Arsenal did not get their first-choice swap in the Alexis Sanchez deal, with Arsene Wenger having to settle for Henrikh Mkhitaryan over Anthony Martial, it has been reported.

Sanchez left the Gunners for Old Trafford in an ill-fated deal back in 2018, but it has now emerged that the final agreement was not quite the one Arsenal boss Wenger wanted.

ESPN report that he was desperate to sign his countryman Anthony Martial instead of Mkhitaryan, but United point-blank refused to sell him in the deal.

Two years on, and with the benefit of hindsight, the deal that did go through to take Sanchez to United and Mkhitaryan to Arsenal was a bad one for all involved.

In fact, with both players now having moved on on loan, the deal looks set to have cost the clubs £46.5million in basic salary alone.

United have suffered most with Sanchez’s £300,000-a-week basic wage costing them £24.9m since they gazumped rivals Manchester City to sign him in the January transfer window of 2018.

That does not take into account the additional £100,000-a-week he has earned in image rights and bonuses that, in theory, could have taken his weekly pay up to £560,000.

Meanwhile, Mkhitaryan’s basic £180,000-a-week salary has cost Arsenal £15.1m in wages, although the figure was closer to £200,000 with bonuses for a player who scored only nine goals in 59 games.

Martial, meanwhile, has enjoyed a far better few years at Old Trafford, and seems to be improving every season.

He netted 12 goals in the campaign after the Arsenal deal fell through, and already has 16 this season with football soon to return after the coronavirus shutdown.