7 players who left Arsenal for bigger clubs

#2 Alexis Sanchez

Alexis Sanchez made a big move to Manchester United in January 2018

Transfers between the Premier League’s biggest clubs seem to be few and far between these days, but one that took place recently – in the January 2018 transfer window - saw a huge name in Alexis Sanchez depart Arsenal to head to Manchester United, with United’s Armenian midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan heading in the other direction.

Like with Ramsey, Arsenal had allowed Sanchez’s contract to wind down to the point where he could’ve walked away for nothing in the summer of 2018, and so the swap deal with Mkhitaryan a few months beforehand made sense for the Gunners to at least recoup something from the issue. Interestingly, a move to Manchester City had been mooted for Sanchez in the months prior, but ended up falling through.

The move hasn’t exactly worked out for either party yet, either; where Sanchez was arguably the key player for Arsenal, he’s felt more like a pointless add-on at United and hasn’t established himself in their first XI, while Mkhitaryan’s form has been relatively disappointing at the Emirates too. Given Sanchez’s huge wages – apparently around £3m a year – maybe the Gunners got the best of this one.