Manchester City is likely to sign Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal, even as the race heats up with Manchester United emerging as new contenders
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has admitted to wanting Alexis Sanchez on his side, according to a Mirror report. In fact, when he took charge of City, he had expressed a desire to make a move for Sanchez, but had to step back because the Gunners refused to let him leave.
This year might be different since Sanchez is in a contract standoff with Arsenal and is set to enter his last year of his Gunners deal.
Chants of ‘Wenger out’ continue to grow across the world as the Gunners struggle to win matches, and the frustration about Arsene Wenger keeps increasing among the fans. In such a situation, letting a player like Alexis Sanchez leave can prove to be a horrible decision for Arsenal.
Amidst the already existing drama, City’s arch-rivals Manchester United are also interested in securing the Chilean’s signature. United spent exorbitant amounts last summer, signing players like Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
It will be interesting to see how much Manchester United are willing to spend on Sanchez, and if they will actually put up enough money to outbid Manchester City.
The main reason behind Manchester United’s sudden interest in Sanchez is touted to be the fact that they desperately need a star striker after Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s tragic injury – which is likely to rule him out for months.
Meanwhile, Pep Guardiola does have players like Aguero, Silva and Sterling, but it would help to sign a player like Sanchez for any team.
As he has proven on numerous occasions before, Sanchez is lethal when in form. The biggest talking point about the Chilean, even more than his goal-scoring skills, is his composure which rarely ever breaks.
Guardiola has been playing around with his strikers, and one concern for Sanchez could be the fact that he might not be top priority for the City manager.
Even a player of Aguero’s calibre was sidelined for quite some time, and there is no guarantee that it won’t happen to Sanchez as well.
The Manchester City vs Arsenal tie will be crucial for both Arsenal and the teams who want to sign Sanchez, as all eyes will be on him to see how he performs in a do or die situation like this one.
Manchester City will also face-off against Manchester United in an upcoming derby clash on Thursday.
As the derby edges closer, it looks like the arch-rivals will have to fight another derby, albeit off-field, when it comes to signing Alexis Sanchez.
