Alexis Sanchez claims he knows whether he will stay at Arsenal or leave this summer – but the Chile international is refusing to make his decision public.
Sanchez has one year to run on his contract and has given no indication he is ready to sign another one, despite Arsenal’s desperation to tie him down.
Manchester City lead the clubs who want Sánchez and they are confident of signing the 28-year-old for around £50m. City believe they have the means to beat Arsenal in terms of a salary package.
Sánchez is playing in the Confederations Cup in Russia where Chile will play Germany in the final on Sunday. He was presented for interview on Friday alongside his international team-mate Claudio Bravo, who plays at City.
Sánchez was asked whether he would be a club-mate of Bravo’s next season. “Good question,” he replied. “Right now, I am focused on the Confederations Cup. When this is finished, I will see if I stay or if I go. I don’t know.” He added: “It’s clear [in my mind] but I can’t tell you anything.”
Sánchez was later asked by Sky Sports about the chances of him staying at Arsenal. “I don’t know my friend, I don’t know,” he said.
The nightmare for Arsenal would be to lose Sánchez, their leading scorer and undoubted star, to a Premier League rival but the City manager, Pep Guardiola, has some pull in this case. He brought Sánchez from Udinese to Barcelona in the summer of 2011 and worked with him there for one season.
By: David Hytner