With Manchester City desperately trying to close a deal for Alexis Sanchez before Thursday's deadline, it feels like a good time to have a little throwback to the time when Pep Guardiola, who could well be his manager for the second time in his career, was furious with him.
Guardiola has been public in his praise of the Chilean, but the following clip of him being angry with Sanchez has been doing the rounds again.
The above incident took place when the two worked together at Barcelona, after Guardiola signed Sanchez from Udinese in 2011 for a fee that was said to be £23 million, potentially rising to £33 million.
In a 3-1 win over Sporting Gijon in March 2012, Alexis, who had just come back from playing 90 minutes with the Chile national team in an international break, was subbed on in the 59th minute with the score at 1-1. Barcelona would go on to score a further two goals through Seydou Keita and Xavi but were dealt an injury blow in the latter stages of the game when Sanchez was forced off with a hamstring injury.
And Guardiola absolutely lost his shit. The above clip has subtitled the translation of what Pep is alleged to have said, with the former Blaugrana boss heavily animated on the touchline and apparently uttering the words "For goodness sake!" as well as "Use your head!" to his No.9.
Pep being frustrated at Alexis was rare at the Nou Camp, though, as the Catalan coach regularly spoke glowingly of the forward, who scored a total of 47 goals for the club in three seasons.
City's interest in Sanchez has been heavily reported on for a while now, but we had to wait until Tuesday evening for an opening £50 million bid to arrive.
The bid was subsequently rejected by Arsenal, who are understood to have enquired about the possibility of Raheem Sterling or Sergio Aguero being used as part of a deal to take the Chilean to the Etihad Stadium.
City are not keen on that proposal whatsoever and are only interested in a cash-only deal for Sanchez, who would undoubtedly improve City's attacking options.
The talk from various well-informed City journalists, including Paul Hirst from The Times,is that the Blues are not giving up their pursuit and are widely expected to make an offer much closer to Arsenal's £70 million valuation.
Sanchez is currently in his native Chile preparing for a World Cup qualifier with Paraguay at UK time but the belief is that should Arsenal crack on their "not for sale" stance and give in, there will be no issue in getting a medical done and dusted.
Will Sanchez be a City player by the time Thursday 11pm rolls around?
Sound off in the comments.
Featured Image Credit: YouTubeTopics: Manchester City, Pep Guardiola, Barcelona, Alexis Sanchez, Arsenal
