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Arsene Wenger 'understands nothing' about Alexis Sanchez's decision to leave Arsenal for Manchester United

Arsene Wenger says he cannot understand Alexis Sanchez’s decision to leave Arsenal for Manchester United.

The Chilean is expected to be formally unveiled as a United player in the coming days, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan moving in the other direction as part of the deal.

Sanchez is set to dramatically increase his salary to £350,000-a-week plus image rights and will be eligible to feature in the Champions League, where United have been drawn against Sevilla in the round of 16.

The 29-year-old, whose Arsenal contract was due to expire at the end of the season, made no secret of his desire to compete for the Premier League and Champions League as he attempted to force his way out of the Emirates last summer.

While Wenger understands the lure of United’s offer, he cannot comprehend why anyone would want to leave Arsenal, having himself rejected interest from Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain to stay at the club he has managed for over 21 years.

“I understand nothing,” Wenger, who told Sanchez on Friday that he was free to leave his squad and complete a move to United, said. “You ask me how can I understand that you want to leave Arsenal.

“One thing when you make transfers for 30 years you know a lot about human beings. He’s professional. It’s his last contract, maybe, at the top level and it was an important contract.

“After that, I accept that. We accept to let him go. We analysed the pros and the cons. We did what we had to do. We went as far as we could go.

“Even Man City moved out of it in the end. That tells you we had no chance to give him a contract.”

Arsenal began the post-Sanchez era in style with a 4-1 demolition of Crystal Palace at the Emirates, all four of the Gunners’ goals coming inside the first 22 minutes as Alexandre Lacazette, Alex Iwobi and Granit Xhaka all enjoyed their best performances in several weeks as part of Wenger’s rejigged side.

Sanchez has, at times, been a disruptive figure within the squad, he was dropped from the starting XI for a game against Liverpool last March after a row with Laurent Koscielny, and Wenger admitted after the Palace win that the transfer saga had left the dressing room with a “strange feeling”.

Asked whether the uncertainty over Sanchez’s future had had a destabilising effect, Wenger said: "Yes. Not the players, just the team. The atmosphere.

“There are periods when it’s less enjoyable than others. It’s the lack of clarity, not that you lose players.

“The team are used to losing players, it’s the lack of certainty. You don’t know ‘will he be here or not?’ Once it’s clear the team deals with it.”