Man City end Sanchez interest as Chelsea ponder move

Joe Williams

Chelsea will battle it out with Manchester United for Alexis Sanchez as Manchester City finally give up on the Arsenal forward, according to reports.

Various outlets have claimed that the Citizens have walked away from any potential deal after ‘crunch talks’ between the club’s decision-makers.

That meeting between the Man City hierarchy seems to have cleared the path for the Red Devils as they look to wrap up a reported deal worth £35million with Henrikh Mkhitaryan potentially moving to the Gunners in exchange.

However, the report also understands that Arsenal’s London rivals Chelsea have made a late bid to sign Sanchez that would rival United’s.

Man City are thought to have pulled out due to Sanchez’s high wage demands and weren’t prepared to pay the reported £400,000-a-week he will earn if he moves to Old Trafford.

The club had agreed a £275,000-a-week package in the summer before the deal collapsed on deadline day, due to Arsenal’s inability to get a transfer for Monaco’s Thomas Lemar over the line.

A report in the Manchester Evening News continues by saying that although Pep Guardiola wanted Sanchez, he agreed with the Man City board that the Chilean’s ‘inflated wages would upset the equilibrium in his squad’.