The seemingly neverending saga over Alexis Sanchez's move to Manchester continues to rumble on as Arsenal wait and see what they can get for a 29-year-old with six months left on his contract.

It seems certain that you can get a lot for such a player if they're talented enough - or if you happen to have a bidding war between two arch-rivals.

£25 million was the figure being reported about a month ago, back when it was an absolute certainty that the Chilean would sign for Manchester City.

It was a matter of time before Sanchez completed that move - the very one that was so close to completion at the end of the last window. Sanchez would move to the best team in the country, strengthening them further and effectively ending the title race for the next couple of years.

But then Manchester United decided they were interested. Not only were United interested, in fact, they were willing to pay considerably more to the player and the club.

Arsenal now stand to get Henrikh Mkhitaryan in a swap deal for Sanchez, with the most recent reports suggesting that the Gunners will claim a further £10 million on top of that.

That's a hell of an upgrade on the £0 they'd get come summer and quite undoubtedly an improvement on what City were prepared to pay. Yes, they're losing their star player, but getting an immediate replacement as well as cash for a player who's definitely leaving? That's good work.

But if Arsenal are doing well out of the City/United bidding war, Sanchez is on another level. The forward was going to make a lot of money at City, but the latest figures put him in line to become the fourth highest paid player in the world.

£500,000 a week has been suggested, and while that may be a little high, it seems almost certain that he'll claim £400,000 at least.

The figure of £500,000 was put to Wenger in his press conference on Thursday. The Arsenal boss didn't directly comment on Sanchez's potential wages, but he did have something to say about the destination.

"I don't comment on the numbers," he said.

"But I respect Manchester United because they generate the resources they pay to their players themselves."

Now that appears to be a clear dig at Man City who, of course, had a little help in their jump to the summit from their owners.

It's at least a little bit of goodwill from Wenger towards the team taking his player - and United have needed some positive press over this deal.

The choice between City and United has been made about football vs business, or success vs money, although as the Arsenal boss points out, we may have had that one a little backwards.