Arsenal star Sanchez is close to completing a move to Manchester United.

The Chilean has agreed personal terms with the Red Devils and is waiting for United midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan to do the same with Arsenal for the swap deal to go through.

United entered the race for Sanchez alongside rivals City earlier this month.

Pep Guardiola’s side pulled out of the deal on Monday after refusing to offer more than £20million for the 28-year-old.

But despite the move to Old Trafford so far down the line, Stone claims he has heard Sanchez would still favour a switch to the Etihad.

“Manchester City, the word is he would still prefer to play for them,” he said on BBC Radio 5 Live.

Sanchez is set to earn £500,000-a-week at United and Stone admits it is hard to argue that it is an attractive proposition for the forward.

“But when you look at these figures, they are eye-watering and they go a long way to explaining why Alexis Sanchez is going to spend the second half of this season and the next four seasons after that playing for Manchester United,” he added.

“So we’re talking about a £30million transfer fee, which is quite a lot for somebody who is available for free in the summer. 

“In addition £14m tax free, which means another £13m in tax that is being paid for him. 

“So it’s £27m in salary, a £20m signing-on fee, and a £10m agents fee. In total, over four-and-a-half years, that adds up to £180m. 

“It’s half a million quid a week United have committed to this.”