Winners and losers from the Sanchez-Mkhitaryan swap deal

Now that Alexis Sanchez has secured a lucrative move to Manchester United, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan given a second chance at Arsenal, theScore's Carlo Campo and Anthony Lopopolo pick out the winners and losers from January's most dramatic transfer saga.

Winner: Manchester United

Carlo Campo: It made sense for United to spend a fortune on Sanchez. As the Guardian's Barney Ronay wrote, the Red Devils will pay around £270,000 per week for the Chilean attacker's wages, which will add up to approximately £50 million by the time his three-and-a-half-year contract is up. The total package is reportedly valued at around £100 million. In other words, it's the equivalent of a standard wage plus a £75-million transfer fee. From a business perspective, it was a job well done by the club.

On the pitch, it goes without saying that United will be better with Sanchez. The Red Devils' squad is comprised of footballers who are young and ageing, but it lacks players who are in their prime. The addition of the product of Cobreloa is a sign that the English club is serious about competing with its crosstown rival in the short term, and he's clearly an upgrade on Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford.

On a related note, it will be fascinating to see how Sanchez plays under Jose Mourinho, a manager who is as obsessed with winning as the footballer. There may be a recipe for success between the two.

Losers: Manchester City

Anthony Lopopolo: It seemed a foregone conclusion that Sanchez would join Manchester City. The only question was when. With personal terms already established on a contract worth £270,000 a week, Sanchez was destined to reunite with Pep Guardiola.

Then United entered the fray and changed everything.

Instead of waging a bidding war for a player who's out of a contract in June, City broke off negotiations and cleared the way for its crosstown rival to do business. After complaining of a clear disadvantage in funding, Mourinho managed to strongarm adversary Guardiola. That means a lot in the greater context of the city's power struggle.

While critics could argue that United overpaid for Sanchez and decimated its wage structure to accommodate him, the reality is that City allowed one of the Premier League's best players get away. Rather than waiting until the final hours of the summer window to submit a £60-million bid, City could've brokered a deal earlier and allowed Arsenal sufficient time to find a replacement. It seemed like City tried to lowball the Gunners. If so, that gambit failed spectacularly.

Winner: Fernando Felicevich

AL: The world of superagents has a new member.

Known as the king of South American football, Fernando Felicevich not only scored his client a massive contract, he also earned a decent chunk of change. Felicevich - who also handled Arturo Vidal's transfer to Juventus and then Bayern Munich - reportedly pocketed around £10 million in agents' fees after steering negotiations United's way. To put that amount in perspective, powerbroker Mino Raiola collected £12 million as a result of Romelu Lukaku's move to the Red Devils.

Felicevich turned what appeared to be a one-club race for his client's signature into a full-fledged auction - all while Sanchez's deal at Arsenal whittled down to its final months. Even Chelsea emerged as a potential destination at the last minute.

Felicevich played the long game with Sanchez, identifying his talent as a 15-year-old and later organising moves to Udinese, Barcelona, and Arsenal. By fostering more than a business relationship, he secured for himself a huge payday.

Losers: Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford

CC: Assuming Sanchez is used as a winger on the left side of the pitch, where he's free to roam and move across the attacking line, Martial and Rashford are one step closer to the fringes of United's squad.

Mourinho will do what he can to resurrect the numbers that Sanchez tallied last season, when the footballer put up 24 goals and 10 assists while playing in all 38 of Arsenal's Premier League games. Unfortunately, that will mean fewer minutes for Martial and Rashford, two high-quality players who deserve better than the bench, particularly ahead of the 2018 World Cup.

It feels like a cruel blow. Martial boasts more goals and assists than Sanchez in the Premier League this season despite considerably less minutes. Meanwhile, Rashford, who broke through as a centre-forward and is still adapting to a role on the left, will find himself lower in the pecking order. The English striker is the best thing to come out of United's academy in a considerable amount of time. What does it say about the club and the league if he continually gets demoted and is unable to continue progressing?

Winner: Mesut Ozil

CC: The spotlight is Mesut Ozil's to lose at Arsenal.

When Arsenal made Tottenham Hotspur toil in the north London derby, a front three of Ozil, Sanchez, and Alexandre Lacazette made supporters believe that brighter days were ahead, that a page had been turned. Two months later, and the German conductor is the only one standing tall at the Emirates Stadium.

With Sanchez gone, and Lacazette's scoring touch nowhere to be seen, Ozil is no longer competing to be the hero. He is the hero. What he needs a sidekick. And Mkhitaryan, who operates wide but can also play as a No. 10, feels like an ideal fit, possessing speed and an ability to get the ball into an attacking area.

Loser: Arsene Wenger

No matter how hard Arsene Wenger tried, he couldn't keep Sanchez through the end of his contract. The Frenchman said on several occasions he would resist selling the Chilean, and even expressed hope he would renew his pact with the Gunners.

Yet here we are.

Wenger lost a fruitless battle trying to keep a player who clearly had no intention to stay at the club. He could've sold Sanchez for more money in the summer and avoided any more unnecessary heartache in the dressing room. Sanchez reportedly caused a rift in the first half of the season, and his performances weren't good enough to make up for the off-pitch distractions. It was a bad gamble.

The arrival of Mkhitaryan - and potentially Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - is also an indication of Arsenal's restructuring behind the scenes. Arsenal's new head of recruitment, Sven Mislintat, likely had a large say in signing Mkhitaryan, whom he brought to Borussia Dortmund during his long tenure there as chief scout. Mislintat also lured Aubameyang to the North Rhine-Westphalia in 2013.

With Wenger's longtime ally Steve Rowley out of a job and former Barcelona director of football Raul Sanllehi set to join the club, Arsenal is preparing to move on from the 68-year-old.

(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)