Arturo Vidal Says Alexis Sanchez to Manchester City Reports Were Fabricated

Arturo Vidal has said reports linking Chile international team-mate and Arsenal's star forward Alexis Sanchez with a transfer to Manchester City were "all made up." 

Vidal spoke after he and Sanchez appeared in a 3-0 defeat to Paraguay in a qualifier for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia on Thursday. He denied Sanchez had told him he expected to sign for City, per FourFourTwo: "No, no, to nobody. Not to me. I don't think so. I think it was all made up because he was very focused on today's game."

City were said to have agreed a deal with Arsenal to sign Sanchez on transfer deadline day, according to BBC Sport's David Ornstein, who noted the deal fell through when the Gunners couldn't sign Monaco winger Thomas Lemar:

Yet Sanchez was previously so convinced the deal would go through he told members of the Chile team he would be a City player. Matias Grez of AS, along with Chilean publication La Tercera (h/t Richard Forrester of The Sun), both reported Sanchez had let his international team-mates know he was on his way to City.

Once the deal collapsed, Sanchez and his agent, Fernando Felicevich, are said to have blamed Arsenal, according to Goal's Sam Lee and Chris Wheatley. The report indicated Sanchez, whose contract expires in 2018, doesn't want to play for the Gunners again and hopes City renew their interest in January.

City officials have also vented their frustration toward Arsenal over the deal falling apart late on, per Simon Mullock of the Daily Mirror. A senior source at City said: "It's disappointing, but we hope that the strong relationships we built with Alexis and his advisers will help us in the future. Arsenal have known for four months that we were interested in signing Sanchez and that the player wanted to leave the club."

However, Charles Watts of Football.London has been critical of the narrative City have presented regarding this proposed transfer:

Watts also believes the Manchester club should have acted sooner, based on their longstanding interest in the Gunners' star man:

The truth is the collapse of this deal looks bad for both Premier League rivals. City missed the chance to land a prime target manager Pep Guardiola wants at the club, while Arsenal's late flip-flop risks alienating the lone world-class player in Arsene Wenger's struggling squad.