Why Manchester City pulled out of January move for Alexis Sanchez

Manchester City didn’t move for Alexis Sanchez in January because “the economics simply didn’t work any more”, chairman Khaldoon Al-Mubarak has revealed.

Pep Guardiola was desperate to sign the Chilean forward from Arsenal last summer, but City couldn’t reach an agreement with the Gunners to take him to the Etihad.

The Spaniard was also keen on a reunion with a player that he had signed for Barcelona in January.

However, Sanchez eventually joined rivals United instead, in a swap deal for Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

According to Al-Mubarak, the champions simply felt that a potential £40million transfer fee, plus wages reportedly in excess of £500,000-a-week, was simply too much – leaving the way clear for United.

“We identified him as a player that was a good fit for this club,” said Al Mubarak, speaking in All or Nothing: Manchester City.

“Pep was very keen to have him join (in 2017) but it didn’t happen. Not for the wrong reasons. There aren’t any regrets.

“We looked at the situation again in January but the situation changed for us from how we looked at it in the summer and how we looked at it in the winter.

“And the reality is the economics simply didn’t work any more.”

Sanchez moved to United and has since made 19 appearances for Jose Mourinho’s side in all competitions, scoring three goals.