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Arsenal and Man City play blame game as Alexis Sanchez move collapses on day of transfer chaos
Manchester City’s £60 million bid to sign wantaway Arsenal striker Alexis Sanchez collapsed amid much finger pointing as what promised to be an extraordinary final day of the transfer window ended with a whimper.
Sanchez will now be stuck at Arsenal until January at least, although the Chilean was not the only unsettled player left in limbo, with Southampton centre-half Virgil van Dijk and Liverpool forward Philippe Coutinho failing to secure big-money moves away on a low-key end to an otherwise head-spinning window, when spending exceeded a record £1.3 billion.
Arsenal had lined up Thomas Lemar to replace Sanchez after agreeing a staggering British-record £92m deal with Monaco for the France attacking midfielder.
But Lemar is understood to have been unwilling to join Arsenal, and with no time to find an alternative replacement for Sanchez, they were forced to reject City’s improved offer of £55m, plus £5m in add-ons, for the Chile striker, whom they now risk losing for a knockdown fee in January, or nothing next summer when his contract expires.
In a further blow for City, their hopes of signing Northern Ireland defender Jonny Evans from West Bromwich Albion also collapsed because they were unable to offload France centre-half Eliaquim Mangala, who rejected moves to West Brom and Crystal Palace.
Arsenal argued that Lemar, whom they had tried and failed to sign for around half Thursday's eye-watering offer earlier in the summer, left them with little time to complete a deal.
But City refuted those suggestions as a blame game ensued between the clubs. Senior sources at City indicated that chief executive Ferran Soriano had first enquired about signing Sanchez as far back as May only to be told during multiple conversations throughout the summer with his Arsenal counterpart, Ivan Gazidis, that the player was not for sale.
City felt Arsenal’s stance began to soften only a few weeks ago, around the time an unsettled Sanchez suffered an apparent abdominal injury that forced him to miss the start of the season, when the North London club indicated they would be open to selling if they could find a replacement.
Arsenal enquired about the possibility of taking England forward Raheem Sterling in part exchange but they were rebuffed, with City favouring a straight cash deal. On Tuesday afternoon, City made an opening cash offer of £50m, which was raised to £60m, including add-ons, during talks between Soriano and Gazidis on Wednesday night.
A second bid was formalised early on Thursday morning and around 10am it is claimed Gazidis rang Soriano to say Arsenal had reached an agreement with another club for a replacement for Sanchez, which later emerged as Monaco’s Lemar. By mid-afternoon, City sensed the trail had gone cold as sources began to indicate that Lemar had turned down Arsenal, which, in turn, ended hopes of signing Sanchez.
Yet Arsenal were apparently of the view that they could have completed a deal for Lemar but for an extraordinary £400m transfer log-jam, even if this was given short shrift by several sources.
Monaco were said to want to secure Paris St-Germain winger Angel di Maria as part of the deal that took Kylian Mbappe to the French capital. But that was purportedly being held up because the French Football Federation were still scrutinising the terms of Mbappe’s season-long loan move to PSG, which includes a binding option to buy the teenager for £165.7 million next summer.
Sanchez – who is in Chile for his country’s World Cup qualifier against Paraguay - is understood to have been left dismayed by the situation and Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger now faces a battle to try to get the 28 year-old back on side.
Manchester United managed to persuade David de Gea to sign a new long-term contract in 2015, weeks after a proposed move to Real Madrid collapsed on transfer deadline day, but it would take a dramatic about-turn on Sanchez’s part to sign a new deal with Arsenal now.
City could make a fresh offer for Sanchez in January or wait to sign him as a free agent next summer when the striker, whose earning power would be huge, would have a host of leading clubs to pick from. Pep Guardiola, the City manager, could also consider another move for Evans in January, although his failure to land the 29 year-old now could prove costly if captain Vincent Kompany suffers a recurrence of his long-standing injury problems.
City had two bids for Evans rejected by West Brom but their hopes of signing the former Manchester United defender hinged on them being able to sell Mangala, for whom they had paid Porto £42m in 2014.
City had accepted a projected £23m bid from Crystal Palace for the defender but he turned down a move to Selhurst Park, which led Palace instead to move for Liverpool’s Mamadou Sakho.
A disappointing day for City also saw Jadon Sancho, the England Under-17 winger and one of the stars of their academy, join Borussia Dortmund for an initial £8m rising to £10m. City did negotiate a lucrative sell-on clause.
There was better news regarding Wilfried Bony with Swansea City agreeing a £12m deal to re-sign the Ivory Coast striker.
City have spent around £220m this summer on six signings but recouped around £92m through sales.