Barcelona's Alexis Sanchez is reportedly set to reject a move to Liverpool as part of the Catalan giants' deal to sign Luis Suarez, and instead engineer a move to Arsenal.
Gunners boss Arsene Wenger is expected to launch a bid for the Chilean star, per David Kent of the Daily Mail:
Sanchez starred for Chile at the World Cup in Brazil before his side were knocked out by the hosts on penalties in the last 16.Barca are keen to use the Chile international as a makeweight in their pursuit of Suarez— but Sanchez is understood to prefer a move to rivals Arsenal.And Gunners boss Arsene Wenger is set to grant the South American his wish by launching a move for the attacking midfielder.
The 25-year-old's pace and skill would fit well into the Arsenal style and he would be a fine addition in terms of goalscoring, having netted 19 times and claimed 10 assists in La Liga last season, per WhoScored.com.
Football journalist Rafael Hernandez highlights the fact that in signing Sanchez, Arsenal would bag themselves a great player whilst weakening their Premier League opponents:
What if Arsenal pays 30m for Alexis Sánchez and finances part of Suárez to Barcelona deal? Weaken their opponents and signs a top player.
— Rafael Hernández (@RafaelH117) June 28, 2014
Barcelona have long been linked with a move for Suarez, with Liverpool reportedly more eager to let him go after his most recent controversy in biting Italy's Giorgio Chiellini.
However, the Merseyside outfit are not prepared to part with him for cheap and are demanding £80 million for the player, per Kent's report, which Barcelona had previously looked set to make up partly by moving the £30 million-rated Sanchez to Anfield.
Now it seems that Barca will have to stump up the full cash amount for Suarez but are clearly eager to sign him up, having praised the Uruguayan for his delayed apology for the Chiellini incident, per the player's Twitter feed:
My apologies to Chiellini: pic.twitter.com/CvfkkjxzlM
— Luis Suarez (@luis16suarez) June 30, 2014
Barca's sporting director, Andoni Zubizarreta, complimented Suarez's reaction despite his previous attempts to claim the incident was in fact an accident, per Kent's report:
Suarez has shown he is humble enough to admit an error, which is very important. He has been humble enough to apologise to those he has affected, because it happened in the middle of a festival of football.In this case it's the best thing a person can do. Everyone knows that Luis is an excellent player, everyone knows last season he played in various positions in attack, but everyone also knows that he is a Liverpool player.
While Barca still look to be in for Suarez, Arsenal are in the driving seat to sign Sanchez whose profile has only increased since his fine displays at the World Cup.
He would be a quality addition to the Gunners squad and would provide additional goals that were lacking last season. Sanchez's presence would go a long way to helping Arsenal once again compete for top honours.
Source: Bleacher Report
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