Alexis Sanchez: Manchester United ready to trump City offer – but Chilean still has heart set on reunion with Pep Guardiola
Sanchez is desperate to leave Arsenal and join up with his former manager at Barcelona, Guardiola, but City are so far offering only £20m
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Manchester United would be willing to trump Manchester City in both fee and wages for Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez, and even offer Henrikh Mkhitaryan, if they get any signal that the Chilean would move to Old Trafford.
While United are not yet actively attempting to hijack the deal, as they are well aware of Sanchez’s desire to work with Pep Guardiola, they are fully prepared to jump on any opportunity or take advantage of any hiccup.
Sanchez is desperate to leave Arsenal and join up with his former manager at Barcelona, Guardiola, in this window, but City are so far offering only £20m, since they could get him on a free in the summer.
United would be willing to go to £25m and offer Mkhitaryan, who has never really flourished under Jose Mourinho. That might be more amenable to Arsenal, but the bigger challenge remains convincing Sanchez. He still has his heart set on City.
Some close to the situation feel that the idea of Sanchez moving to United should not be completely ruled out, but that it would take something "extraordinary".
The player has already turned down an offer of higher wages from Paris Saint-Germain, because of his desire to work with Guardiola. The Catalan coach's influence is seen as key, even though United's offer may force City to pay that bit more to clinch the deal.
Meanwhile, it's understood Mkhitaryan would be willing leave Old Trafford and has been linked with a return to his former club Borussia Dortmund in this window, but that move is likely to prove complicated given his salary demands.
United are also among a few clubs weighing up a deal for Paris Saint-Germain’s Lucas Moura, with the Brazilian winger’s representatives currently pushing to get him a move to a Premier League top-four club.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments