Manchester City: No, landing Alexis neither a priority nor a ‘game-changer’

There’s been a surge in ‘Alexis Sanchez to the Etihad’ rumors, but Manchester City should not move on the Arsenal forward.

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Alexis Sanchez is not the remedy to what ails Manchester City. Let me repeat that: Alexis Sanchez is not the remedy to what ails Manchester City.

Capiche?

Then why are people clamoring for the Arsenal talisman? Goal.com’s Sam Lee calls Alexis, should he defect to City, “a game-changer.” There’s even a rumor that a swap sending Sergio Aguero to the Emirates is a possibility.

I, however, feel like I need to dump water on this rampant speculation because it is cray-cray.

Firstly, let’s deal with this Aguero swap canard. No matter how good Alexis is — and he’s a world-class player — trading Aguero for him is stupid. The City No. 10 is a once-in-a-generation sort of player; I wouldn’t subscribe that sort of plaudit to Alexis as a player or goalscorer. Familiarity with Pep Guardiola and prowess for his defensive tactics is not reason enough to ship away the club’s third all-time leading scorer.

That isn’t to say Aguero stays after the season, but the pay and or compensation must be fiercely high to be fiercely right. Alexis, a diva who hasn’t carried a flailing Arsenal side this season while the consummately professional Aguero has for an under-performing City, just doesn’t qualify in that regard.

As for Alexis being “a game-changer,” regardless of whether Aguero is around, nothing changes for City. The same questions linger: Does Pep start Alexis or wunderkind Gabriel Jesus? If Jesus, Alexis takes whose place in the starting 11 — Leroy Sane‘s or Raheem Sterling‘s? Guardiola can’t deploy them all, and the club reportedly shelled out, including add-ons, £96.5 million for the two young wingers to play, no? Moreover, nor do Sane’s or Sterling’s performances for the season warrant a demotion. The attack on the flank is not where City struggles.

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On the contrary, it’s the defense, followed by goalkeeper and holding midfield, that requires immediate reinforcement from the transfer market. Flashy offensive signings don’t make up for subpar defending. Alexis up top doesn’t alter the fact that Aleksandar Kolarov, Nicolas Otamendi, Pablo Zabaleta, Gael Clichy, Bacary Sagna, John Stones comprise a back line that leaks about as much as the Titanic — another expensive, vaunted, man-made structure of epic proportions put together to be impregnable — after hitting an iceberg.

So defense first. Then comes perhaps tweaking the offense, one of the deadliest in all of Europe. Still, I don’t see how Alexis would be an improvement.