Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez close to finalising Manchester City transfer

Arsenal star Alexis Sanchez is reportedly close to finalising his transfer to Manchester City in a stunning reunion with his old manager Pep Guardiola.

The Chile international’s future at the Emirates Stadium has been in serious doubt for much of the season just gone, with his Arsenal contract due to expire in a year’s time.

Sanchez may have helped Arsenal to an FA Cup final win over Chelsea in the final game of the season, but would be justified in looking for a move to a bigger club after the Gunners dropped out of the top four.

City boss Guardiola is a known admirer of the South American forward, having signed him during his time at Barcelona, and Fox Sports now claim they’re set to link up again at the Etihad Stadium.

Guardiola’s side could do with more in attack due to the Spaniard’s apparent dissatisfaction with top scorer Sergio Aguero, who does not completely fit the blueprint for a Guardiola-style striker despite his fine scoring record.

Sanchez is more of an all-rounder and just had one of the seasons of his career with 30 goals and 13 assists in all competitions for Arsenal.

Arsene Wenger will be disappointed if this deal does go through, with the Frenchman only recently laying down the law by insisting neither Sanchez nor fellow contract rebel Mesut Ozil would be sold.

‘This summer, first of all, they will stay at the club and hopefully we can extend their contract,’ Wenger said.

‘You know, you cannot weaken the club and weaken the team. We want to strengthen the team…unless you find a player of the same calibre and they absolutely want to leave. I believe that at the moment we are not on that front. We are just focused on keeping the team together and see how to strengthen the team.

‘When you sign a contract somewhere you commit to give your best until the last day of the contract.’

Arsenal have also been widely tipped to sell Sanchez abroad to avoid losing him to a rival, so fans could be left stunned by the fact that he appears to be heading to City instead of Bayern Munich or Paris Saint-Germain.