Still not renewing with the Gunners, it appears that Alexis Sanchez’s future is in even more doubt, if the Chilean press are to be believed.
The Arsenal forward, who scored a hat-trick against West Ham at the weekend, is, according to El Mercurio, a target for Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, with the Spanish manager already making moves to try and convince Sanchez to leave the Emirates.
Keen to bring him to the Etihad at some point in the near future, the former Barcelona manager, under whom Sanchez has already worked during his time in La Liga, has apparently contacted the Arsenal forward ‘at least twice’.
Pep’s plan, according to El Mercurio, is to play the long game, with a transfer in 2018 the most realistic option, when the player’s contract with Arsenal comes to an end.
The Chilean newspaper say this leaves the London club two transfer windows to convince Sanchez to renew with them, as from the 1st of January 2018, he would be able to negotiate freely with Manchester City about a free transfer.
It’s worth pointing out that, come the summer of 2018, the former Udinese starlet will be nearing his 30th birthday.
Having bought Sanchez from Barcelona for just over £35m back in 2014, you would expect Arsenal to at least get some money back from their transfer if the player flat out refuses to renew.
This is quite a big claim from El Mercurio, and, if there’s any truth to it, is one bound to grow over the coming weeks.
However, since the article was published, during his press conference ahead of Manchester City’s Champions League clash against Celtic, Pep Guardiola vehemently denied calling Sanchez, also labelling the journalist who wrote the story ‘a liar’.
But, of course, he would say that, wouldn’t he? We highly doubt Guardiola would openly tell the press “Yes, of course, I’ve had a few casual chats with Alexis about a 2018 transfer to Manchester City”…
