Arsène Wenger Overruled in Attempt to Sign Man United Star Anthony Martial During January Window

Departing Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger was overruled in his attempts to sign Manchester United winger Anthony Martial in January.

Wenger was pushing to swap Alexis Sánchez for Anthony Martial, according to the Daily Star, but the Arsenal hierarchy overruled him and signed Henrikh Mkhitaryan instead.

The decision to sign Mkhitaryan was influenced by Head of Recruitment, Sven Mislintat, who knows Mkhitaryan from his previous recruitment role at Borussia Dortmund.

Despite struggling to hit a run of form at Old Trafford, Martial has shown his ability in the past and is significantly younger than Mkhitaryan, so has room to improve. Also, he would have been more beneficial for the balance of the side, as Danny Welbeck and Alex Iwobi have been poor on the left-hand side of attack.

The Daily Star report also claims that of the favourites to take the Arsenal job, Max Allegri, is concerned by the hierarchy that has been put in place at the Emirates Stadium by Arsenal CEO Ivan Gazidis.

Mislintat and Raul Sanllehi are two of the key figures in the player recruitment process, but Allegri wants reassurances that he will be able to build the club the way he wants to and is insisting control over transfers.

Wenger is said to have been dominated by Gazidis in his final two season at the Emirates Stadium, with Gazidis being the man behind the purchase of Skhodran Mustafi two years ago.

Gazidis thinks that a young, inexperienced coach - such as former Gunners midfielder Mikel Arteta, who has been strongly linked with the role - would be more flexible and willing to work underneath the club's hierarchy.