Nobody has talked about Alexis Sanchez going to Manchester City recently.
Expect that to change.
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Sky Sports is reporting that Arsenal’s Premier League rivals Manchester City have placed Sanchez at the top of their summer wish-list as speculation surrounding his future in north London continues.
With Arsenal’s forward out of contract next summer and talks over a new deal with the Gunners not taking place until the end of this season, the Chilean forward has been linked with countless clubs including Chelsea and Manchester United in the Premier League, plus Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus among other European giants.
Even though he has a short time left on his current deal, he is expected to still fetch a transfer fee of over $60 million. But, with just a year left on his deal by the time Arsenal come around to contemplate selling him, Sanchez’s value will drop considerably after this summer.
The Gunners must cash in on Sanchez this summer if he doesn’t sign a new deal.
Sanchez, 28, is Arsenal’s top scorer and has 18 goals and nine assists in the Premier League season. That said, in recent weeks his form has dipped and the former Barcelona forward is seeing Arsenal’s top four hopes diminish each and every week as Arsene Wenger’s under-fire team have now lost five of their last eight games in the PL.
With Arsenal seven points off the top four (they do have a game in hand) the likes of Sanchez and Mesut Ozil, who is also out of contract in the summer of 2018, will be thinking about their next move and trying to remain in the UEFA Champions League.
Man City could provide UCL action that if they hang on to fourth-place in the PL ahead of Arsenal and Manchester United, while Pep Guardiola is said to be a huge admirer of Sanchez after he took him to Barca in the past. Where he slots into the Man City team is a tough problem to solve as they have Sergio Aguero, Kevin de Bruyne, Raheem Sterling, Leroy Sane and Gabriel Jesus available to play in the central or wide roles in attack, but if a player of Sanchez’s caliber comes up on the market, you have to snap him up. Simple.
Whether or not Arsenal would sell Sanchez to a direct PL rival remains to be seen. Their days of doing that (Robin van Persie, Ashley Cole, Samir Nasri et al.) appear to be over but what if Sanchez wants to stay in the Premier League?
Other reports from Radio Cooperativa in Chile have already stated that City will pay Arsenal $64 million for Sanchez and pay him $250,000 per week.
If Sanchez’s time at Arsenal is up, apart from Chelsea the best fit for his talents in the PL would have to be Man City. Think of Sanchez interlinking with Gabriel Jesus, Sane and Sterling in a fluid front four. Oh my.
With the Gunners struggling for the top four and the situation regarding the future of Wenger and others uncertain, Sanchez’s body language has said plenty in recent weeks. It looks increasingly unlikely that he will remain at Arsenal.