WENGER: I WILL PERSUADE SANCHEZ TO STAY
ARSENE WENGER still thinks Arsenal can convince Alexis Sanchez to stay.
Sanchez wants Champions League football – but the Gunners are determined not to sell to a Premier League rival and believe it will boil down to a pay rise for the striker seeking £400,000 a week.
Manchester City are in pole position
FROM BACK PAGE and know the Gunners face a dilemma because Sanchez, 28, could leave for nothing at the end of his contract next summer.
City will be encouraged by Sanchez’s comments during a holiday back home in Chile and believe Pep Guardiola’s influence can lure him to the Etihad.
But Arsenal understand Sanchez would prefer to stay in London – and his contract demands have scared off foreign clubs, including Bayern Munich.
Boss Wenger insists he has had “positive” messages from Sanchez about his future and the club may be prepared to let him run into the final year of his current deal.
Arsenal have shown ambition by signing Alexandre Lacazette for £52million and are in for Monaco’s Thomas Lemar.
But the FA Cup winners do not want to sell both Sanchez and Olivier Giroud – a target for Borussia Dortmund and Everton – as it would leave them short of options up front.