Manchester City decide NOT to move for Alexis Sanchez in January amid continued fury with Arsenal

Manchester City will not give Arsenal a penny for
Alexis Sanchez.
The Premier League leaders have no plans to make a
cut-price £20million bid for the Chilean forward during
the January transfer window.
They are ready to wreck revenge on the Gunners over
their decision to scupper a £60million deadline-day
deal for the 28-year-old by signing him for nothing
when his contract expires next summer.
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Sunday Mirror Sport has learned that City are still
angry at the way Arsenal handled negotiations for
Sanchez in August.
After telling the Etihad club that the player was going
nowhere, the Gunners changed tack at the 11th hour
when it became clear that Sanchez would not be
signing a new deal and had deliberately priced himself
out of moves to both Paris St Germain and Bayern
Munich by demanding wages of £500,000-a-week.
Arsene Wenger’s attempt to get City to agree to a
deal that would see Raheem Sterling move to the
Emirates was rejected by Pep Guardiola.
And the London club then accepted a bid of
£60million from City just hours before the deadline –
only to pull out when they failed with their own
£90million mission to replace him with Monaco’s
Thomas Lemar.
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Now Arsenal’s decision to force Sanchez and Mezut
Ozil to serve the final year of their contracts is set to
cost the cash-conscious Londoners a fortune.
City’s stance is that they will wait until next summer
before handing Sanchez a Sky Blue shirt – and a hefty
signing-on fee
That may change if any of Guardiola’s forwards suffer
a long-term injury between now and the end of
January.
Or if Sanchez is given a rival offer during the winter
window that is tempting enough to force them into
making a bid.
But the understanding inside the Etihad corridors of
power is that City remain favourites to land the
former Barcelona star because he wants to be
reunited with Guardiola.
City’s Mancunian rivals United are interested in Ozil –
but Old Trafford bosses still need to be convinced
that paying a significant amount of money for the
German midfielder in January makes any business
sense given his contractual situation.
Losing Sanchez and Ozil for nothing will be a
devastating blow for Wenger and his club’s
beleaguered board.
Arsenal have already started touting both players
around Europe’s top clubs in the hope that they can
recoup some money during the January scramble.
But City’s recruitment current plans are focused on
bringing in a new left-back after losing Benjamin
Mendy until April with torn cruciate ligaments.
Napoli’s Faouzi Ghoulam remains a target. The
Algerian international will get another chance to
impress Guardiola when he lines up against City in the
Champions League on Wednesday night after an
outstanding display at the Etihad earlier this month.
City hope to land Ghoulam for around £10million
because he is out-of-contract at the end of the
season.
Napoli’s bid to win Serie A for the first time since
1990 complicates their interest – although handing
the Italians an early Champions League exit may help
their cause.
But City have no immediate plans to enter the
January market for a new centre-back – despite
Vincent Kompany’s ongoing injury issues.
The Belgian has been sidelined for seven weeks after
suffering a calf problem on international duty that was
expected to take just days to heal.
The City captain underwent treatment in Barcelona
during the week and the latest news is so positive
that buying a centre-back before the summer is not
yet on their shopping list.

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