Manchester City have offered Raheem Sterling to Arsenal in a player-plus-cash deal to sign Alexis Sanchez, Mirror Football exclusively revealed today .
The 28-year-old Chilean has less than a year remaining on his current deal although Arsenal have insisted he is not for sale.
But the Mirror understands there has now been direct contact between the clubs - and City have made a different approach involving Sterling plus cash.
The offer has shocked many, especially considering the lengths City went to in order to sign Sterling from Liverpool just two years ago.
Over the years, Wenger has been grilled several times about the possibility of signing Sterling, right back to when he was a teenager at QPR.
Football.London has dug out those quotes , which suggest bringing Sterling to the Emirates may tempt tempt Wenger.
July 2015
Why he didn’t try and sign Sterling from Liverpool.
“It looked a done deal for a while because Sterling was adamant he wanted the move.
“It is a good buy for Man City. It is an expensive one but they can afford it.
“We never considered it because he plays in an area where we have plenty of players.
"We have [Theo] Walcott, [Alex] Oxlade-Chamberlain, [Alexis] Sanchez, [Jack] Wilshere who can play wide, [Serge] Gnabry, so we have plenty of players and he’s a wide player basically, or behind the striker.”
August 2015
No sympathy for Liverpool over City move.
“I personally rate Raheem Sterling, we will see that in the longer term.
“I personally don’t think that Sterling was making a lot of drama, it’s just during the transfer window that that happened.
“During the season the boy was quiet, never made any stupid statement, I don’t think he made too much noise.
“Will they miss him? He’s a quality player.
"But they bought Firmino, we will see what he will produce, he is a similar player.
“But let’s remember two years ago with Suarez, Sturridge, Sterling - they scored over a hundred goals.
“I personally don’t think that Sterling was making a lot of drama, it’s just during the transfer window that that happened”
“Score more than a hundred goals in the Premier League, you need special quality to do that, and Sterling was part of that.”
December 2015
Wenger rues missing out on Sterling when he was at QPR.
“We had many players on the flanks, but Sterling was at QPR - that’s where we should take the players.
“We watched him but you miss obvious players.
"The history of every club is full of top players that you missed.
"At the time Liverpool were quicker.”