Henrikh Mkhitaryan insists that he was not part of the deal that took Alexis Sanchez to Manchester United in January.

The Armenian moved to Arsenal on deadline day earlier of the January transfer window, with Sanchez moving the opposite way.

At the time it was reported that Mkhitaryan was used as a makeweight in the move, however the former Borussia Dortmund star insist that was not the case.

He told FourFourTwo : “‘I didn’t’ come here to replace anyone. Everyone keeps saying that I’ve been part of a deal for Alexis Sanchez but it’s not true because he was running down his contract.

“If he didn’t choose to come to Manchester United, he would have stayed at Arsenal until the summer.

“Everything was up to me. I’m not saying I was important in this aspect but I want everyone to understand I wasn’t made part of the deal for Alexis Sanchez.

“We’re different players, we’re different characters, we have different abilities and skills.”

Mkhitaryan endured a difficult spell at Old Trafford following his move from Borussia Dortmund in 2016, ultimately falling out of favour with manager Jose Mourinho and seeing his number of first team appearances drastically decline with time.

And when the 29-year-old heard he had the chance to jump ship at move to Arsenal, he said it was an opportunity he could not refuse.

“When I heard I could swap Manchester United for Arsenal, I said ‘yes I want to do that’,” he continued.

“I wasn’t evening thinking twice or thinking that maybe I don’t have to go. I said ‘no I want to go. I want to have more playing time. I want to enjoy playing attacking, offensive football’. I made the right decision coming here.”