After his magnificent performance against West Ham on Saturday evening, you couldn’t blame Pep Guardiola if he was keen to sign Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez.
A report from Chilean publication El Mercurio – and relayed by the Mirror – sensationally claimed that, after his hat-trick against the Hammers, Alexis received a phone call from Guardiola designed to convince the in-form South American to leave the Emirates Stadium for Manchester City.
The report went on to detail how Guardiola had apparently spoken with the Chile international on at least two occasions in the hope of luring him to Manchester.
Sanchez’s current contract expires in the summer of 2018 and while Arsenal are keen to tie him down to a new long-term contract, no breakthrough has been made yet.
The Gunners also have the same problem with Mesut Ozil.
Nevertheless, in his pre-match press conference for the Champions League clash against Celtic, which takes place on Tuesday night, Guardiola categorically denied suggestions that he wants to sign Alexis.
According to BBC Sport’s Simon Stone, Guardiola said the reports were “absolutely false”.
He went on to call the journalist responsible for the story a “liar”.
However, he did admit that Sanchez “would fit into any team in the world”.
It’s no secret that Guardiola is a fan of the Chilean; after all, it was the revered Catalan coach who signed Alexis for Barcelona from Udinese in the summer of 2011.
However, Guardiola will be acutely aware that City have little chance of signing Sanchez unless the player decides he no longer wants to play in north London.
Much could depend on whether Arsenal win the Premier League title this season.
The Gunners possess a squad that looks good enough to challenge for the title – they’re currently three points behind table-toppers Chelsea in second place – but will they falter yet again during the second half of the campaign?
Alexis knows he’s a world class player and, like Guardiola said, capable of playing for any team in the world.
If any stumble again this season, then players such as Sanchez and Ozil would surely be within their rights to consider their options.