Manchester City Offer Star Player As Part Of Alexis Sanchez Deal

In a surprising twist to the Alexis Sanchez transfer drama that has accelerated over the couple of days since Arsenal's crushing 4-0 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield, the Gunners are set to be offered one of Manchester City's star players in exchange for the Chilean forward.

With City desperate to land Sanchez, Pep Guardiola will allow Raheem Sterling to be included in a part-exchange deal for the 28-year-old former Barcelona man.

The Mirror have broken the news of the potential deal in the last few minutes. With Thursday's transfer deadline looming, Guardiola wants to bring in one more face to bolster his team's chances of success on four fronts, this season.

Since his £50 million arrival at Eastlands two years ago, Sterling has failed to properly assert himself as a key man in Guardiola's plans, despite an initial burst of form at the beginning of last season, shortly after the former Bayern manager's arrival at the club.

With the arrivals of Kevin de Bruyne, Leroy Sane and Bernardo Silva over the past couple of years alongside him, Sterling has been far from a guaranteed starter at City and the club's pursuit of Sanchez was always likely to force the England international further out of the first team reckoning at the Etihad Stadium.

Sanchez, meanwhile, has yet to put pen to paper on a new contract at Arsenal, with less than 12 months remaining on his current deal. Should Arsenal reject City's advances for the Chilean, it would likely mean Sanchez leaves for absolutely nothing, next summer.

City's deal would at least allow the Gunners to earn some money from Sanchez's departure while also bringing in a player with plenty of Premier League experience to help replace the Chilean.

It is believed that Arsenal would only consider a £70 million deal for Sanchez, but City have not been willing to meet that asking price, and have therefore added Sterling to the deal.

Sterling was the hero for City at the weekend, scoring a 97th minute winner against Bournemouth, before controversially being sent off by referee Mike Dean for running into the crowd to celebrate his last gasp goal.

City and Arsenal fans, what do you make of this potential player-plus-cash deal?

Have your say in our comments sections below and on our Facebook page.

(H/T The Mirror)

Topics: Manchester City, Football, Alexis Sanchez, Arsenal, Raheem Sterling

Joe Baiamonte

Northerner. Assistant Editor of SPORTbible. Studied Journalism and Broadcasting in a portakabin on a car park of Salford University for three years. Believes football peaked with Serie A in the '90s and strong-arms pro wrestling references into as many articles as possible. Neymar once took 50 euros off me during a game of poker.

@JoeBaia