Manchester City Favorites to Sign Alexis Sánchez After Bayern Munich Backed Out
Manchester City are now in pole position for Alexis Sánchez's signature.
According to the Mirror's John Cross, Bayern Munich are backing out of the race to sign Sánchez because the Chilean forward is reportedly asking for a £350,000-a-week contract. The wage demand may have put off Bayern, but City are more than willing to give him what he wants.
Arsenal will reportedly ask for a transfer fee in excess of £50 million despite the fact that Sánchez only has a year remaining on his current contract. Well, that shouldn't be a problem for City either.
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Cross said the Gunners still want to keep Sánchez and they were willing to give him a £275,000-a-week contract. However, they felt that they were fighting a losing battle and they know that they might have no other choice but to sell him.
It goes without saying that Arsenal obviously don't want to sell one of their best players to a league rival like City. Of course, a situation like this has happened before with Robin van Persie (to Manchester United) and Samir Nasri (to City), but ESPN FC's Andrew Mangan has noted that this is different.
He pointed out that Arsenal was in a difficult position financially when they sold van Persie and Nasri, and the two practically forced their way out of the club with their behavior. But Sánchez hasn't done that, and Mangan believes that Arsenal should just keep him this season. If he leaves next summer, then so be it.
"Selling your best player — and probably the best player in the Premier League last season — to a rival club is a very, very bad idea. Yes, you strengthen them and weaken yourself, but the ramifications of such a decision go way beyond what takes place on the pitch," Mangan said.
"Fans, who have not been reticent in expressing their unhappiness in recent times, would view Sanchez's departure as something approaching the final straw in their relationship with the club," he continued.
Right now, City are just waiting for Arsenal to let Sánchez go.
