Henrikh Mkhitaryan will undergo a medical at Arsenal on Sunday with his move to the Gunners expected to be completed by Monday, according to Sky sources.
Sky Sports News understands it will be a straight swap deal between United and Arsenal but as of Sunday morning, the paperwork on every aspect of deal has yet to be signed off.
Mkhitaryan will sign a three-and-a-half year contract that makes him the highest paid player at Arsenal, according to reports.
The Armenian is in London with his agent, Mino Raiola, to complete a medical with the Gunners ahead of an imminent straight swap deal that will see Alexis Sanchez join Manchester United.
It had been claimed that Mkhitaryan would ask for the same massive salary Arsenal had offered to Sanchez to try to keep him to stay, which would have been around £300,000-a-week.
But according to The Mirror, Mkhitaryan has settled on a £200,000-a-week deal – which still represents a massive pay hike compared to what he was earning at United.
It also means Mkhitaryan is now the biggest earner at Arsenal, though the Gunners have tabled a contract offer to Mesut Ozil – whose current deal expires in the summer – that would eclipse that offer.
As well as earning a bumper deal at Arsenal, Raiola also secured a hefty pay-off on the last two-and-a-half years of Mkhitaryan’s United contract, even threatening to scupper the Sanchez deal if they did not pay up.
The 29-year-old’s contract works out at around £10.4m a year before tax, which is significantly less than the deal Sanchez has received at Old Trafford.
The Chilean will take home £14m a year after tax, making him the highest paid player in the Premier League by some margin, though it could cause a few problems at United. Raiola also represents Paul Pogba, and it has been claimed that the notorious agent will demand United give the Frenchman – their club-record signing – wage parity with Sanchez.
