Manchester City are set to make one final attempt to sign Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez this summer by submitting a bid worth a bumper £60m, according to the Telegraph.
Sanchez has now entered the final year of his contract with the Gunners – with talks over the contract extension over the last year failed to gain any real traction – and the belief is that the former Barcelona player’s preference is to leave the club in order to play in the Champions League.
The Gunners’ stance on Sanchez’s future is that he is not for sale, with manager Arsene Wenger coming out on several occasions to state that was the case, and that he would especially not be allowed to join a direct Premier League rival. Given the hit they would take on the pitch and the potential fan backlash, it doesn’t come as too much of a surprise.
Man City boss Pep Guardiola has been desperate to sign his former player over the summer months, and while Manchester United and Chelsea have been linked with the Chilean, it’s both City and big-spending Paris Saint-Germain who’ve led the chase to sign the player.
The Ligue 1 giants’ recent £198m signing of Barcelona’s Neymar has however suggested their interest in the Arsenal player is over, leaving City with an effective clear run at the player if they can convince the Gunners to sell. The north London club have fend off all approaches for Sanchez, but Guardiola’s side are ready to up the ante with the £60m bid, and by offering him an incredible £400k-a-week wage packet.
Man City have already spent around £220m this summer and have a wealth of attacking talent, but Guardiola is such a fan of Sanchez that he would still like to sign him regardless.
Sanchez missed Arsenal’s season opener against Leicester on Friday night, and is set to miss the game with Stoke City this weekend as speculation continues about where he will play his football this season.