Reports: Alexis Sanchez makes his decision on Manchester City move

What’s the story?

Arsenal have been on tenterhooks ever since Alexis Sanchez said that he’d reveal his decision on whether he’d make a move away from the London club after the conclusion of the FIFA Confederations Cup. If reports in the Metro (who in turn cite El Mercurio) are to be believed, he seems to have done it already. And it’s not a positive one for Arsenal fans.

The reports claim that the Chilean superstar has decided to move on and join Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City. Sources close to Alexis are said to have told El Mercurio “Not playing in the Champions League is a big deal for Alexis, he is motivated to participate and win it. Alexis spoke to his team-mates in Russia about the subject, he has spoken with his family as well. All of them came to the same conclusion – it is best for him to end his journey with Arsenal and join City. Alexis is not willing for that, for any reason, [to stay at Arsenal] his idea is to leave in this moment.” It may be noted that we are not in a position to confirm the veracity of these quotes at the moment.

Previously...

There have been quite a few moves from Arsenal to Manchester City in the recent past, including full-backs Gael Clichy and Bacary Sagna but the case closest to this is that of Samir Nasri who moved to the blue half of Manchester after three scintillating years with Arsenal in 2011. Another case that one can draw parallels with is that of Robin van Persie. The Dutchman enjoyed his best ever season with Arsenal in 2011-12 (after 8 years with the Gunners) before moving on to Manchester United.

The most damaging factoid (as far as Arsenal are concerned) with regards to these two? Both attacking talents won their first league title the very season they moved.

The heart of the matter

Arsenal are desperate to keep hold of their most dangerous player and are keen not to have a repeat of the Nasri, van Persie transfers... where they strengthened direct rivals while almost completely weakening their own attacking potential. This has resulted in them offering a massive wage increase to the Chilean (around £300,000 a week – an amount that will put him amongst the highest paid footballers in England, and indeed the world) – the ambition they showed in getting Alexandre Lacazette also acts as an indicator that relegation to the Europa League has not dimmed their ambitions.

It now remains to be seen whether Sanchez will be satisfied with the way his club have gone about their business.

Video

If anyone needs any convincing on the sheer quality of the Chilean:

He’s quite good, isn’t he?

Author’s take

Alexis Sanchez may not be best served by moving to City. His positional indiscipline is often a great cause of frustration for his managers and Pep Guardiola is one of the least tolerant when it comes to the positional discipline of his players (it’s actually gotten more extreme for both parties since their time at Barcelona). While it would probably be well advised for him to leave Arsenal, Bayern Munich (also interested, but unwilling to meet Arsenal’s asking price) may be the best option – if not this year, then as a free agent the next.