Chilean newspaper El Mercurio reported that Alexis Sanchez has told Arsene Wenger that he wishes to leave Arsenal in the summer.
Sanchez currently has 12 months left on his contract at the Emirates. And the Chilean has refused to sign a new deal, meaning to he wants to force a transfer in this transfer window.
Initially, Bayern Munich and Manchester City had shown interest in the 28-year-old. But recently the German Champions pulled out of the race, leaving Manchester City as the sole contender.
But Wenger is adamant not to sell his star player to a direct rival. And maybe that is why he has set a price tag of £80 million on the wantaway striker. Such an absurd price means that Bayern will immediately withdraw any kind of hopes of signing the Chilean. As the Bayern president had already made it very clear that his club under no circumstances will spend large sums of money for an older player.
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So this leaves Manchester City as the lone contender, but the asking price is also beyond the liking of Guardiola. While the Spanish coach is eager to reunite with his Ex-Barcelona man but £80 million is way over-the-top for a player who is 28 years old.
But City will definitely try and negotiate the asking price with Arsenal but the last thing that Wenger will want to do is to sell Sanchez to a local rival.
The Football Fan Base view:
We feel that such a high transfer price that Arsenal are demanding is only to fend off interest from Manchester City. But according to the reports, Sanchez wants to leave.
So in this scenario, either Wenger will have to lower his asking price or risk losing Sanchez on a free transfer next year.