Manchester City Transfer News: Fee Set for Alexis Sanchez, Latest Rumours

Manchester City will reportedly have to pay £30 million to sign soon-to-be-out-of-contract Arsenal star Alexis Sanchez in the January transfer window. The Gunners are reportedly set to demand the fee for the Chilean, who can leave on a free transfer in the summer of 2018.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger won't budge on the £30 million price tag, despite City chief Pep Guardiola only being prepared to offer £20 million for Sanchez this winter, according to Daniel Cutts of The Sun.

Cutts has quoted an unnamed source at City's Etihad Stadium who described Sanchez's desire to leave Arsenal for Manchester:

"Arsenal are not blinking yet on Alexis. We will only pay £20m for him in January. Arsenal are still sending the message that they want over £30m. Something has to give either way.

Pep thinks he could prove the difference between Premier and Champions League success and failure. Sanchez still wants the move from what we understand. We feel we have some leverage right now."

Cutts also indicated Sanchez "is desperate to quit the Gunners, posting a sad selfie following his omission for their clash against Norwich earlier this week."

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Links between Sanchez and City have been ongoing for months. In fact, a deal was almost struck between the two clubs during the last days of the summer transfer window.

An agreement over a transfer involving City paying the Gunners £55 million up front, along with a further £5 million in add-ons, was reportedly reached, per BBC Sport's David Ornstein. Yet Ornstein noted how the sale couldn't go through because the Gunners were unable to secure a replacement.

At the time, Charles Watts of Football.London lamented City's decision to leave it so late in the window to try and secure one of their top targets:

Perhaps the real critique should concern the question why would City be so desperate to sign Sanchez when Guardiola's squad is already overflowing with attacking options?

The manager can call on two prolific centre-forwards in Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus. He can also count on goals and assists from wide forwards Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane.

Sterling was said to be a potential makeweight in any deal for Sanchez, per John Cross of the Daily Mirror. However, Guardiola has since made it clear he won't entertain offers for Sterling in January, per James Robson of the Manchester Evening News.

Sterling himself has revealed he didn't even consider moving to Arsenal in the summer, per the Guardian's Jamie Jackson. It makes sense for Sterling to want to stay at City after reminding Guardiola of his value by scoring eight goals already this season, according to WhoScored.com.

Meanwhile, Sane has been showing true star potential in his second season with the Citizens. The 21-year-old is proving a prolific source of goals, per the Premier League's official Twitter account:

Signing a forward as versatile and gifted as Sanchez would surely stunt the development of a burgeoning talent like Sane. The Germany international's progress, along with Sterling's improved form, has reduced the need for Guardiola to bring Sanchez to Manchester.

The two worked together at Barcelona in 2011-12, but Guardiola should know he has enough forwards to cope without adding Sanchez. Instead, the league leaders would be wise to use the winter window to add to a threadbare defence rather than haggling over the fee for a player set to be available for free next summer.