Former Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini claimed his side missed out on signing Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez from Barcelona in 2014 due to FFP restrictions.
Alexis Sanchez will come as a significant upgrade to any team in the world today simply because of his tireless energy, work rate and sheer quality. It’s precisely what earned him a move to FC Barcelona so early on in his career. While things didn’t exactly go to script at the Nou Camp, the Chilean did enough to establish his quality and earn a big money move to Arsenal in the summer of 2014.
However, speaking to the ADN radio station based out of Santiago, former Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini expressed his regret at not being able to land his fellow countryman at the Etihad. He reveals that the forward, who was struggling at Barcelona, was a prime target for Manchester City but he could not pursue him due to the restrictions imposed on the club as a punishment for violating the Financial Fair Play regulations.
He was quoted as saying,”He was one of the best in the world and he showed it every day. He was a major player we wanted to take to City. We could not take him before he signed for Arsenal, it was because the club was punished for Financial Fair Play. I did not have the space in the squad for him.”
City were fined £16 million in 2014 for breaking the FFP guidelines and were even issued restrictions and limitations on their club size and spending, which is why, as Pellegrini opined, Sanchez couldn’t make the move to Etihad. They had already signed Eliaquim Mangala, Willy Caballero, Fernando and Bacary Sagna that summer. The Arsenal man has gone on to establish his superstar status in his two and a half year stay at the Emirates with his world class performances and tireless energy truly endearing him to the Gunners’ faithful.
The Chilean was even strongly linked with a Liverpool move that summer, but the then 25-year-old instead opted to move to London over Merseyside. In the position to buy now, Manchester City are in the reckoning once more to acquire Sanchez’s signature with reports claiming the player is unhappy with Arsenal’s efforts to keep him at the club.
The Gunners have reportedly offered the 27-year-old a £9.3 million/year (£180,000/week) contract, but that doesn’t meet the player’s £250,000/week wage demands. With interest coming from Juventus, Bayern Munich and Manchester City, Arsenal have to work swiftly in order to secure the forward’s future at the Emirates.
