City confident of signing Sanchez from Arsenal

Manchester City are increasingly confident of signing Alexis Sanchez for a potential fee in the region of £50m, despite Arsenal’s reluctance to sell, because of the forward’s desire to play under Pep Guardiola. Although Arsène Wenger is minded against allowing his finest player to leave, he is aware of Sanchez’s desire to join City. If the Arsenal manager does not sanction a sale this summer he faces losing Sanchez in 12 months on a free. Sanchez is out of contract then and has refused to sign a new deal. The 28-year old has been offered around £250,000 a week by the north London club but could earn closer to £300,000 at City. Sanchez was signed by Guardiola for Barcelona from Udinese in the summer of 2011 and was managed by him until the Catalan left at the close of the following season.  

Chin up my friend @Alexis_Sanchez! Those were two tough games against you and your team! ??#Chile #BigFight #TopTeam #ConfedCup #CHIGER https://t.co/p6k7DzJIjy

— Shkodran Mustafi (@MustafiOfficial) July 2, 2017

If Sanchez does force a way out, Arsenal’s preference is not to sell him to a domestic rival. The club would rather he move to Paris Saint-Germain or Bayern Munich, who both remain interested in the player. Arsenal are trying to strengthen their forward line regardless and have had a £31m offer for Monaco’s Thomas Lemar turned down. With Arsenal determined to hold on to Sanchez, City are prepared to play the long game. City retain an interest in Monaco’s Kylian Mbappé, although if Sanchez does sign it makes the purchase of the 18-year-old, who could cost upwards of £100m, a remote proposition.