The tug of war between Manchester United and Manchester City over Arsenal star Alexis Sanchez has heated up of late and Jose Mourinho has only stirred the pot after his comments at a press conference on Friday.

When asked about the links to the 29-year-old who’s contract at the Emirates Stadium runs out in the summer, he was typically contradictory.

He started by refusing speak about Sanchez in particular before going on to do just that indirectly in a thinly veiled hypothetical.

“I don’t think it’s correct to say things about Alexis Sanchez,” he said.

“At the general level, what I can say is that myself and the Manchester United board, we don’t believe a lot in the January market. We don’t believe in signing players just to sign a player, just to do something. We don’t believe in that.

“What we believe really is that there are some players in the football world, if you have a chance to sign them, it doesn’t matter if it is in January, March or July you have to try.

“But in relation to Alexis Sanchez, I don’t say a word. The only word I can say is the same word that everybody says, he’s a phenomenal player.

“Apart from that, (he’s an) Arsenal player, I feel I shouldn’t say much more than this.”

United are understood to have bid £25m for the Chilean, £5m more than City are prepared to pay, while also offering the player higher wages.