Manchester City furious with 'shambolic' Arsenal after £60m move for Alexis Sanchez falls through

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Manchester City were left seething at Arsenal’s handling of Alexis Sanchez on Thursday night after a dramatic £60million deadline-day move fell flat.

Sanchez was sat inside Santiago’s Estadio Monumental David Arrellano ready to sign for Pep Guardiola’s team ahead of Chile’s World Cup qualifier against Paraguay on Thursday night.

The 28-year-old believed a deal was set before being denied by Arsenal’s failure to land Monaco winger Thomas Lemar for an eye-watering £92m. 

Manchester City failed in their bid to bring Arsenal star Alexis Sanchez to the Etihad Stadium

City had a £55m bid including £5m in add-ons accepted by the London outfit on Thursday

City had officials on hand in South America to oversee Sanchez’s transfer. They were given encouragement at around 10am that Arsene Wenger was some way down the line in finalising a replacement.

The respective chief executives, Ivan Gazidis and Ferran Soriano had been in dialogue all summer but City did not make their first formal offer of £50m until Tuesday.

Arsenal argue they were left with too little time to sign Lemar. It became clear on Thursday afternoon that the France international wanted Champions League football and had designs on joining Liverpool.

That left City sources flabbergasted, baffled that Wenger’s team had not done their due diligence in their pursuit of Lemar.

Communication from the Emirates Stadium went quiet early in the afternoon and one source slammed Arsenal as ‘shambolic’.

Wenger had suggested throwing in Raheem Sterling as part of the deal on Tuesday but Guardiola made it clear to Soriano that he would prefer a straight cash transfer.

Pep Guardiola had wanted to be reunited with Sanchez after their time together at Barcelona

Arsenal had lined up Thomas Lemar in a £92m deal only to see it collapse later on Thursday

It leaves Sanchez, whose contract runs out at the end of the season, in a state of flux until January at least. City are likely to test Arsenal’s resolve again in the winter transfer window.

Sanchez was disappointed at not sealing an Arsenal exit and is highly unlikely to pen new terms, making him available on a free.

City are, however, wary that Sanchez could opt to sign elsewhere next summer, particularly after Dani Alves went back on his verbal pledge to join City and performed a U-turn before moving to Paris Saint-Germain.

But Guardiola hopes his persistence over the last few weeks has laid the foundations for a future reunion with a player he coached at Barcelona.

Deadline day was laced with disappointment at the Etihad Stadium after another target, Jonny Evans, remained at West Brom.

City also missed out on Jonny Evans on deadline day as the defender remained at West Brom

Evans — who flew to San Marino with Northern Ireland for Saturday's World Cup qualifier — was another ready to sign but that was dependant on Eliaquim Mangala departing City and West Brom finding a new central defender.

Crystal Palace were in talks to sign Mangala and saw a bid rising to £23m accepted, but the former Porto defender stayed at City.

Wilfried Bony did bring an end to a disastrous two-year spell in the North West, re-signing for Swansea City in a deal worth £12m. Jason Denayer went on loan to Galatasaray.

The most staggering money changing hands saw 17-year-old wonderkid Jadon Sancho, who was desperate to leave City, head to Borussia Dortmund for an initial £8m.

The Bundesliga club could have signed him for £190,000 on scholarship terms but plan to throw Sancho straight into the first team, handing him the No 7 shirt.