Manchester City will return to Arsenal for Alexis Sanchez in January and could get the Chilean forward for as little as £20 million (about $27 million), according to reports.
Pep Guardiola's team made a deadline day bid, on August 31, for Sanchez which is believed to have been worth £60 million; just six weeks later, City could get him for a third of that.
According to the Daily Mirror, City is planning to renegotiate with Arsenal ahead of the January transfer window but will only do so if it can get him for a lower price.
City would, otherwise, be able to wait until the summer when Sanchez's contract at Arsenal expires and sign him for no transfer fee at all. Sanchez is free to speak to any club he wishes in January and able to sign a pre-contract agreement but would then remain with Arsenal until the end of his current deal.
The capture of Sanchez in January would, likely, increase City's Premier League title expectations. Guardiola's team is currently at the top of the table but only on goal difference, scoring just one more than Jose Mourinho Manchester United.
Related: Unlike Alexis Sanchez, there's no escape from Arsenal for Mesut Ozil
The Manchester clubs were expected to battle for the Premier League crown last season after hiring the two managers, but in the end, London teams fought and won the title. Chelsea eased to the finish line under Antonio Conte, with Mauricio Pochettino's Tottenham the only pursuer.
But this season, with Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus on form for City, as well as goals also coming from the rest of the squad—eight different players have already scored this season—the addition of Sanchez would be ominous for Mourinho's United.
Arsenal had, it seemed, hoped that it would either be able to persuade Sanchez to stay by having a successful campaign, or that he would be able to help the club back into the Champions League before leaving. While the latter is still possible, Sanchez appears ready to go.
Arsenal is fifth in the Premier League table and faces a giant task in competing with Tottenham, Chelsea and Liverpool for the final two places in the top four. The loss of Sanchez in January could be fatal for Arsene Wenger and Arsenal.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
