Manchester City and Bayern not buying what Sanchez is selling

I will not hide the disappointment I felt when news broke that Manchester City had ended their pursuit of Alexis Sanchez. Yes, I was excited to see what the Chilean would bring to the Pep Guardiola era. I thought he would compliment the team, make it even better, as we went into the final stretch.

Then, as with other City fans, as you pull away the layers I have to say I am quite proud of the club. Yes Pep pursued Sanchez in the summer, and almost got him. And as January got closer, so did the speculation.

If you are to believe what you read, and why wouldn’t you in this case, United offered a silly amount of money. I mean, the guy will be available for free in the summer! If the transfer fee wasn’t crazy enough, there was the agents fee, a player trade oh, and the wages.

After seemingly agreeing terms with Manchester City in the summer, Sanchez increased his demands. With Pep already concerned about bringing in Sanchez mid-season, I think the demands were the straw which broke the camels back.

And it’s a good decision for a number of reasons. Firstly, we really don’t need Alexis Sanchez as much as he needs out of Arsenal. We were also led to believe that he only wanted to play for Pep. So if that’s true then money shouldn’t be the issue, and he should already be in Blue.

With City officially ending their pursuit, it shows how City have grown. Pep will not fall into the same trap as Malcolm Allison, when he signed Rodney Marsh. Nor, more recently, when Kevin Keegan signed Faustino Asprillia, both mid-season.

Remember when Allison brought Marsh to our club for a club record fee. City were four points clear at the top of the table. By seasons end we had slipped to fourth with pundits of the era pointing to Marsh as being ill-suited to the cohesive side Allison already had. I certainly think, the current City have a togetherness and that could be negatively influenced if Sanchez came in. Especially if he was on more money that David Silva, Sergio Aguero or Kevin DeBruyne.

So the question is, with only six months left on his contract, why are United so willing to pay such an exorbitant amount when the likes of City, and even Bayern are not? Well I think you have to go back to Sir Alex Ferguson’s comments in 2012.

They are panicking, and have taken their correct role as being second to Manchester City. The reason I am saying that is because, with this deal, they would have abandoned their principles. At United’s Player of the Year dinner in 2012 Fergie said this:

"We invest in young players. That is what we are good at – we’re not like other clubs who can spend fortunes on proven goods. We know that City are going to spend fortunes, pay stupid money, pay silly salaries and all that.“We can’t do anything about that. We concentrate on what we can do to try to bring players in for the right reasons."

So, you have to think, with already attacking players such as Lukaku, Zlatan, Rashford, Martial and even Lingard in the mix the only reason United would want to buy Sanchez is to prevent City from buying Sanchez. Is that the right reason?

Fergie also went on, in that same dinner speech to say:

"We invest in players who will be with the club for a long time, who will create the character of the club, who will create excitement for our fans, and we are very proud of that and we are going to continue that way."

City, after the initial takeover, had been called ‘small’. A little club, with no history. A club who had to pay over the odds in transfer fee and wages to get players to join. Something dear old Sir Alex swore United would never do.

At 29, Sanchez is hardly one for the long-term future, although he could still give you two or three good seasons. For me though this signing could be more beneficial for City if Alexis does join United. Zlatan, Alexis and Jose’s personality all in the same dressing room, on the same training pitch! I can’t wait to see how that unfolds.