Jose or Pep: Alexis Sanchez has a hard decision to make

The last time a world-class attacker moved from North London to Manchester, it effectively guaranteed the player and his new club the Premier League title for that season.

Robin van Persie was being pursued by Manchester City. He had gotten a house in the city and the general consensus was that Roberto Mancini would be able to count on him when the season began.

However, Sir Alex Ferguson moved in, jumped ahead of the queue and told van Persie the magical words he wanted to hear, ‘if you sign for us, you'll win the league’ and that was it.

He moved to Manchester, lived in the house he had bought but never played for Man City and instead joined their arch-rivals, Manchester United in a £24m deal and with a year left on his contract, Arsene Wenger saw it as good value for money.

In 10 months after the deal was done, Wenger realised the folly in his decision as Robin's goals won the title for Sir Alex, giving the legendary Scottish manager a worthy retirement gift.

But times have changed now and the balance of power lies in the blue side of Manchester as Pep Guardiola's machine is steamrolling everyone in their path as they go for the title. Their record for the league season reads thus- played 22, won 20, drew 2- and these are insane numbers. The Catalan’s City side are currently well clear of the chasing pack and still in the fight for all 4 competitions they entered.

Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United, meanwhile, are second on the log, but that tells half the story. They're a massive 15 points behind leaders City, out of the Carabao Cup after getting eliminated by Bristol City. The season has been an improvement on the limp finishes they've had since Sir Alex retired but City's devastating form is putting just about everybody in the shade.

It is in light of this that Alexis Sanchez finds himself in the midst of a transfer tussle between Manchester clubs with both of them offering him a lot more than he currently earns at the Emirates. They are also offering him a far more pronounced chance of success than he'll get over there as well, but the problem is two-way.

With Manchester City, he's almost guaranteed to win the league this season and thoughts of a domestic treble wouldn't be farfetched either as the Cityzens are in the running for all.

But what happens when every player is fit and firing, in a side where even the prolific Sergio Agüero gets to sit on the bench for more than he's used to. Does Sanchez merely become another rotation option?

Being a player who is famed for wanting to always play at all times, how will he take to being benched for Sterling, Sanè or Jesus? Yes, he will win the trophies but what happens to the fulfilment a player gets from playing a major role as against being a great member of the supporting cast?

At Manchester United, he's going to waltz into the starting XI, play every game, get more money and help in the fight for major titles. But was that not what he was doing as a Gunner?

He was the undisputed star man- the guy they looked up to when things got tough. The man they backed to get themselves out of a rut. Sanchez was that man, but they struggled to find cup glory. Sure, there were the FA Cup wins. But he should be having bigger aspirations than mere cup runs and the league title should be a goal.

But with the Pep juggernaut getting in full swing, are his title dreams any likely to get resolved by the red half of Manchester?

He has a very hard decision to make. Does he go after glory or personal satisfaction? Whatever his decision is, it would definitely be a tough one to make.