Manchester United transfer news and rumours: Alexis Sanchez latest, alternatives identified, Fred interest

A round-up of the latest stories regarding ins and outs at Old Trafford

Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez is out of contract at the end of the season (Getty)

Manchester United’s attempts to hijack Manchester City’s pursuit of Alexis Sanchez dominates the back pages on Friday.

As reported by The Independent, United are willing to offer £25m and include out-of-favour playmaker Henrikh Mkhitaryan in a deal for the Arsenal forward, whose contract is set to expire at the end of the season.

City have so far only offered £20m but Sanchez’s long-standing desire to be reunited with Pep Guardiola gives them the upper hand. The Chilean played under Guardiola at Barcelona during the 2011-12 season.

According to The Daily Telegraph, United have also made enquiries into the availability of Jamie Vardy and Javier Hernandez as they search for reliable cover for Romelu Lukaku in the second half of the season.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s struggles to fully recover from his serious knee ligament injury could see United spend up to £35m on bringing Vardy to Old Trafford, though Leicester City’s owners, the Srivaddhanaprabha family, will require convincing.

A return to Manchester for Hernandez would be cheaper. West Ham United are reportedly listening to offers for the Mexican, who has failed to impress his manager David Moyes.

Jose Mourinho would like to strengthen in central midfield, what with Marouane Fellaini almost certainly leaving the club in the summer and a string of injuries in the position recently.

According to the Daily Record, United are ready to make an offer to Shakhtar Donetsk for Fred, who has also attracted interest from City.

Fred impressed for Shakhtar during their recent qualification from the Champions League group stages, when the Ukrainian champions became the only team to beat Guardiola’s City so far this season.