Manchester City will attempt to sign Alexis Sanchez next year – after blaming Arsenal for the collapse of the Chilean star's proposed £60million move to the Etihad.
Pep Guardiola thought he had landed his No 1 target at 10am this morning when Gunners chief executive Ivan Gazidis called his City counterpart Ferran Soriano to tell him the the Blues' second offer for Sanchez had been accepted.
City had tabled a bid of £55million plus £5million in add-ons after having their initial £50million gambit rejected.
Gazidis informed Soriano that Arsenal had a replacement – Monaco's Thomas Lemar – lined up.
And that the Sanchez transfer would hinge on a deal with the French champions being sealed.
But despite having a £90million offer accepted by Monaco accepted later in the day, Lemar was not interested in making the move to the Emirates.
Arsenal then told City that the agreement for Sanchez was off the table.
A senior City source said: “It was Ivan Gazidis who made the first move this morning – calling Ferran to tell him that the second offer was acceptable.
“It came with the proviso that Arsenal had to sign a replacement. But Gazidis indicated that was close to happening.
“It now seems that Arsenal didn't have an agreement with either a club or a player.
“It's disappointing but we hope that the strong relationships we built with Alexis and his advisers will help us in the future.”
Sanchez is said to be devastated by the news after telling his Chilean team-mates that his move to City was about to be completed as they prepared for tonight's World Cup qualifier against Paraguay.
Arsenal claim that City left it too late to make their move for the 28-year-old.
But the Manchester club first contacted the Gunners in May to tell them that they wanted to sign the forward.
Arsenal's stance was that Sanchez was not for sale – but negotiations continued and the player had even agreed a £300,000-a-week package.
The impasse was broken earlier this week when Arsenal made it clear they were now ready to listen to offers.
They asked City if Raheem Sterling could be included in a deal.
When Guardiola refused to sanction the England winger's departure, City were invited to make a cash offer.
The Etihad source added: “Arsenal have known for four months that we were interested in signing Sanchez and that the player wanted to leave the club.”
City also missed out on West Ham defender Jonny Evans when Eliaquim Mangala refused to make the £22million move to Crystal Palace.
But they are set to sell striker Wilfried Bony back to Swansea for £12million, while teenage winger Jadon Sancho has moved to Borussia Dortmund in a deal worth £8million plus significant add-ons.