Sunday, 12th June, 2011
Manchester City appear to be working hard on a deal with Udinese for Alexis Sanchez, although their plans of a meeting with the Italians were sidetracked by Gino Pozzo, president Gianpaolo Pozzo’s son, overrunning his stay in Spain, where he had been taking in Granada vs Celta Vigo.
City, after the brief delay, will now push ahead with their meeting with Udinese officials and the latest reports emerging from Italy via Corriere dello Sport suggest that the English side’s opening offer will be €28M plus Slovakian winger Vladimir Weiss.
The race for Sanchez’ signature looks to be narrowing to a straight fight between City and European Champions Barcelona; the Catalans had a bid of €18M for the Chilean rejected last week.
And while Barcelona’s limited summer transfer budget of €45M would suggest City can outbid their Spanish rivals, Sanchez has gone on record as stating his admiration for the Catalans.
Much appears to now depend on how much progress City can make in their discussions with Udinese. With Champions League football to look forward to next season in Udine, President Pozzo is in little rush to sell Sanchez for less than he believes the player is worth. And that amount is thought to be a minimum of €35M.
Barcelona however are expected to return with an improved bid next week, while the late involvement of Inter cannot be ruled out.
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