Manchester City are said to have pulled out of the race to sign Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez because of financial reasons, but does it makes sense?
The Chilean is out of contract next summer and is firmly expected to leave the club without extending that deal, and Manchester City had been believed to be nailed on as his next club, until a fortnight ago at least.
Manchester United have since emerged as his most likely destination, and terms are even believed to have been all-but finalised, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan moving in the opposite direction.
The claims were that Man City were unwilling to pay the £35 Million asking price which was demanded to part with Alexis, half the fee which they were believed to have agreed only four months ago, and it was the Red Devils who moved in with their offer.
There is also the claim that the Citizens were now unwilling to pay the wantaway star the wages demanded, but do we actually believe that Alexis was not set to become their highest earner when agreeing terms on Deadline Day in the summer?
So we are to believe that after four months, City are now unwilling to pay half the fee they had previously agreed, and that wages are now an issue?
The papers love to have their agendas, and one theory has been claimed that moving to United would only be about money, and joining Pep would somehow have been because of footballing reasons, but what if City had been told that Man United was his dream?
Did Man United simply offer the highest wages? Would the chance to work under Mourinho outweigh Guardiola? Did City try and save face by trying to cry about a financial high-ground?
Pat J