CITY SPECIAL Sanchez is giving Pep a transfer dilemma
PEP Guardiola faces bringing forward plans to sign Alexis Sanchez - or risk missing out on the Arsenal striker.
Manchester City were prepared to wait until the Chilean became a free agent to reignite their interest in him after seeing a £60m deadline day deal collapse.
The hope among the Etihad hierarchy was that Sanchez’ own desire to work with Guardiola would see him hold until the summer.
But growing interest from abroad could force City to move in January, rather than see a European rival land the 28-year-old.
Sanchez is free to talk to foreign clubs from the turn of the year - giving giants like Paris St Germain an advantage over Guardiola.
The French league leaders have been increasingly linked with a move following the public fallout between Neymar and Edinson Cavani last month.
Sanchez was already a PSG target before they signed Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.
City’s own hopes depend on Arsenal’s willingness to cash in before their star player becomes a free agent.
Their failure to sign Thomas Lemar from Monaco saw them block Sanchez’s move to the Etihad on deadline day, despite knowing he would become a free agent at the end of the season.
He is still to sign a new contract, so January would be Arsenal’s last chance to recoup any money on him.
Any offer from City would be significantly lower that the £60m deal that was in place in the summer. PERHAPS Pep Guardiola was right all along.
Perhaps the City manager’s stubborn refusal to bow to English football – tackles and all that – is paying off.
These are early days, but the start to Guardiola’s second season at the Etihad has been nothing short of spectacular.
We’ve been here before - 12 months ago to be precise - when an even more emphatic start collapsed so spectacularly.
But even Guardiola’s fiercest critics would concede this feels different. And if the Catalan allows himself to feel a certain sense of smug satisfaction it will be because everything is going to plan. Not that Guardiola gets a free pass for a first season that could only be considered a disappointment.
But his contention that he didn’t have the personnel to carry out his methods at the Etihad is an increasingly compelling one.
It may have taken £200m more to transform his squad - but the vision of football he promised Sheikh Mansour is being realised.
So much so that perhaps it is time to put to rest the one remaining question mark about the Premier League leaders.
For all of the attacking brilliance of Guardiola’s team - the heart of the defence remains an area of concern.
Without the injured Vincent Kompany and the top-class centrehalf Guardiola has targeted since taking the job, there is a vulnerability at the back that is seen as an area to exploit. Perceptions can be misleading. City have kept clean sheets in seven of 10 games in all competitions this season. Along with joint leaders Manchester United they have the best defence in the Premier League.
Yet on paper, the partnership of John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi is still to convince.
Guardiola has seen all this before - and it didn’t turn out too badly on that occasion.
Gerard Pique was seen as a player for United to exploit in the 2009 Champions League final.
Still considered raw potential, he’d gone from United’s reserves to being at the heart of Barcelona’s rearguard. After subduing Cristiano Ronaldo for 90 minutes in Rome, he was no longer a weak link.
Instead, two years later, and in another Champions League final, that particular tag was given to Javier Mascherano.
As a 5ft 8ins central midfielder, the Argentine wasn’t the obvious choice as a centre-back.
And he continued to be viewed as that throughout a Barca career that has seen him win four La Liga titles and two Champions Leagues. Guardiola’s philosophy is clear. Get the attack right and everything else falls into place. It’s remarkable how assured Stones and Otamendi look when part of a team that constantly has the opposition on the back foot.
They are part of a team that dominates possession and dictates play.
Rather than being exposed on the counter - as they were so often last season - the additions of Kyle Walker and Benjamin Mendy before his injury - provided them with players capable forcing wide men to defend, rather than attack.
Those full backs also have the pace and energy to recover quickly when caught on the break. In Ederson, Guardiola has recruited a goalkeeper who takes the pressure off his defence with the confidence and authority to command the final third and give Stones licence to advance. Compare that to last season when Stones was operating on the understanding that virtually every mistake would be punished in what was a chastening campaign for Claudio Bravo.
This season Stones has been given freedom to play more to his strengths of carrying the ball out of defence.
And his all-round game has improved as a result.
His partnership with Otamendi looks as solid as any City have had since Kompany and Joleon Lescott.
When Guardiola identified fullbacks as his transfer priority in the summer, it was with a view to the effect they would have on his entire team - and his ability to implement his philosophy.
So far - and even after Mendy’s knee ligament damage - an outlay of around £130m on three fullbacks has paid dividends.
Question marks will remain about the centre of his defence - but that didn’t do him any harm at Barca. James Robson