In a development destined to send a chill through any clubs seeking to make up the gap on Barcelona, the European Champions are likely to end Manchester City's pursuit of Udinese's Alexis Sanchez this week with a £32m move taking him to the Nou Camp.
The rest of City's transfer plans had been on hold pending their pursuit of the Chilean forward, with chief executive Garry Cook leading negotiations last week. But City's £25m valuation of the 22-year-old has been matched by Barcelona, and the Catalans' willingness to offer a further £7m in performance-related add-ons allied to the striker's preference to join them is expected to seal the deal. A late £31m bid by Chelsea cannot be ruled out, but Gino Pozzo, who manages Udinese's transfer business for his father, club owner Giampaolo, is likely to favour Barcelona over City, Manchester United, Juventus and Internazionale.
Pozzo had initially suggested that City were in the box seat for Sanchez, though that was before Udinese's series of meetings with interested clubs. City are unwilling to pay the usual £2m-£3m premium they are charged this summer and Barcelona are understood to have been the first club to meet the asking price.
Sanchez has been in Santiago, in his native Chile, to be a part of the national side's preparations for next month's Copa America over the weekend, but sources in Chile suggest that the national manager, Claudio Borghi, has sanctioned the player's flight to Barcelona to complete his move, if that is required. Borghi wants Sanchez to join Barcelona, and the view from Santiago is that a curious Twitter post from Fernando Felicevich, Sanchez's agent, indicates the deal is done. "'Everything's gone fine until now', said the pig with the apple in his mouth," he posted.
If Barcelona do conclude the deal this week, it will come as a blow to City, who initially thought they had lost Sanchez to Barcelona several weeks - ago, only for the deal to be scuppered by the unwillingness of the Spanish striker Bojan Krkic to head the other way in part-exchange to cement the deal. But City's willingness to be flexible, offering a player of their own to Udinese as part of a deal, came to nothing. Barcelona maintained contact with Udinese and the player's own desires came into it
Alexis Sanchez snubs Manchester City and Manchester United to join Barcelona in £32m deal
Barcelona appear to have won the race with Manchester City and Manchester United to sign Alexis Sanchez. The Chile winger is expected to complete a £32 million move to the European champions from Udinese this week. Delegations from both Manchester clubs — led by City chief executive Garry Cook and his United counterpart, David Gill – met Gino Pozzo, the transfer supremo at Udinese, last week to begin discussions over the 22 year-old as the Italian side looked to establish which suitors were prepared to meet their asking price.
Pozzo also held talks with two Italian sides — believed to be Juventus and Inter Milan — as well as meeting Barcelona’s sporting director, Andoni Zubizarreta, and vice-president, Josep Maria Bartomeu.
Sources in Chile and Spain have suggested it is the Catalan side who were first to offer Udinese an acceptable proposal, agreeing to pay around £25 million up front and a further £7 million in performance-related clauses.
Sanchez has spent the past few days in Santiago training with his national side in preparation for next month’s Copa America, but is reported to have been granted permission by Chile manager Claudio Borghi to travel to Barcelona to complete his move if necessary.
Borghi, whose side faced Estonia in their final warm-up game on Sunday night, has made clear his preference for the player to move to the Spanish champions, while Sanchez is believed to have already been congratulated on joining Pep Guardiola’s side by his Chilean team-mates.
A cryptic post on Twitter from the 22 year-old’s agent, Fernando Felicevich, has further added to the suspicion that a deal has been done. “ 'Everything’s gone fine until now’, said the pig with the apple in his mouth,” he wrote on Sunday.
The Chilean media has drawn a parallel with a similar statement posted by Felicevich after completing the sale of Gary Medel, the defensive midfielder, to Sevilla last season.
Sanchez was thought to have agreed terms with Barcelona earlier this month only for the Spanish side’s original bid — which included striker Bojan Krkic in part exchange — to fall through after the young striker made clear he would not move to Italy as a makeweight.
Zubizarreta and Bartomeu, though, have maintained regular contact with Pozzo since, and sources close to the player have disclosed that, while Sanchez has long wished to play in England, he feels he would not be able to turn down the chance to play alongside Lionel Messi, Andrés Iniesta and Xavi should Barcelona match Udinese’s valuation.
The news will come as more of a blow to City than United. Roberto Mancini, the City manager, had identified Sanchez as his primary summer reinforcement and the club are believed to have prioritised signing the Chilean at the expense of movement elsewhere thus far this summer.
Though United hav tracked Sanchez for several years, manager Sir Alex Ferguson is widely expected to add Ashley Young, the Aston Villa winger, to his squad when the England player returns from holiday, while he is also thought to be examining the possibility of signing Samir Nasri from Arsenal. Sanchez, it is believed, was more possibility than priority at Old Trafford.
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Manchester City Win the Battle for Alexis Sanchez in £40m Deal
The most talked-about transfer of the summer so far, and perhaps the one that will set the tone for the rest of the transfer window, swung in Manchester City's direction tonight.
Alexis Sanchez, the sought-after Chilean winger, had been widely tipped over the last 24 hours to have decided on a move to Barcelona, but his club, Udinese, received a staggering and game-changing bid of £40m from Manchester City earlier today.
Barcelona immediately refused to match the fee, and the player has been told by Udinese President Franco Soldati that he would now be moving to Manchester.
The deal will be signed tomorrow, Monday, with a medical examination having already been conducted by both Barcelona and Manchester City in South America.
It now seems clear that Manchester City are going to use their financial muscle to get the players they want with a bid for Sergio Aguero also now in the pipeline
CITY'S FREE FOR 2 TEVEZ DEAL
MANCHESTER CITY are looking at a revolutionary plan to keep homesick Carlos Tevez for two more seasons.
Tevez has three years left on his current contract but City are willing to make a compromise to keep their brilliant striker happy.
It’s understood they will ask him to commit to a further two years and then let the Argentine striker return home on a free transfer as a reward for pledging his near-future to the club. The condition is that he only flies back to Argentina and does not head off to either Italy or Spain.
Tevez will jet in from an emotional reunion with his family next week and will again welcome the efforts City have made to ease his unrest.
He is already leaning towards staying in the city he told the world he hates – and this proposed new move by the Blue camp will only further convince Tevez that this is where his immediate future lies.
Tevez is already in a better state of mind after months of turmoil over leaving his kids behind in Argentina.
He has been reunited with long-time love Vanesa, the mother of his two daughters Florencia, six, and Katia, one.
And his agent, Kia Joorabchian has given the clearest indication yet that Tevez is about to change his mind on packing his designer bags with the strong possibility that he will bring the family back with him.
Joorabchian said: “I don’t think speculation about Carlos leaving is fair at the moment. I don’t think money is a consideration.
“Maybe it’s a case of his family coming over to him. That’s something he’s trying to sort out. I’m sure in the next week he will sort the family issue out.
“Once he does, he will announce it and everyone will be in a better place.”
Tevez is clearly a happier man. He cancelled a quick exit home to be on the open-topped bus which paraded the FA Cup through Manchester’s packed streets after City’s Wembley victory over Stoke.
And Joorabchian was quick to point out what it meant to Tevez, as captain, to pick up City’s first trophy for 35 years.
He added: “Carlos has always had a goal. The goal was that City needed to get into the Champions League and win a trophy.
“And they won a trophy and achieved that goal. Now that has given him a tremendous feeling. He held that trophy with a lot of pride.
“If you look at the team they are going to get stronger and stronger and, if Carlos stays, they would be my favourite to win the title.
“I’m sure that will be a factor in his mind and, the fact that City fans have embraced him, will count for a lot along with his great relationship with the supporters.
“I think all these factors will be positives for him to stay. Carlos has not made any decision to move. “We have not asked to leave the club.”
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JUVENTUS UP CARLOS TEVEZ BID
JUVENTUS are planning to up their bid for Manchester City captain Carlos Tevez.
Reports in Italy suggest that Juventus are ready up their initial £20million bid for Carlos Tevez.
Tevez snubbed a lucrative £200,000-a-week offer earlier this month because he was waiting for an offer from Spain.
However, Manchester City have yet to receive an offer from Barcelona or Real Madrid, meaning Tevez will be forced to stay in England.
His agent, Kia Joorabchian, said: "I don’t think speculation about Carlos leaving is fair at the moment. I don’t think money is a consideration.
"Maybe it’s a case of his family coming over to him. That’s something he’s trying to sort out. I’m sure in the next week he will sort the family issue out. Once he does, he will announce it and everyone will be in a better place.”
Tevez has wanted a move away from Manchester since the end of the season. He claimed last month on Argentine television that there is nothing to do in Manchester.
The former Manchester United striker also moaned there were only two good restaurants and that it rains all the time.
Young Manchester City trio set to be rewarded with bumper new pay deals
Great survivors Vincent Kompany, Micah Richards and Joe Hart will reap the rewards of their consistency this summer.
The trio are the only players to have come through the revolution of Sheikh Mansour’s takeover to remain first team regulars at Eastlands.
And that will bring all three a pay rise to bring them into line with City’s bigger earners, as wages have soared since the 2008 change of ownership.
All three will get deals worth up to £100,000 a week after playing key parts in City’s surge into the Champions League and to FA Cup glory.
The Blues are aware that they have to rein in spending on wages with UEFA’s financial fair play rules kicking in next season.
But the three young defensive players - Hart is 24, Kompany 25 and Richards 22 - are seen as key to the future as the Blues chase glory in the Champions League and Premier League next season.
The Blues were also awaiting developments today in their chase for Chile winger Alexis Sanchez, with reports from Spain and Chile suggesting Barcelona are about to clinch his £30million signing.
There is even a suggestion from Chile that the winger has been given leave from his country’s preparations for next month’s Copa America in order to fly to Catalonia today and sign.
Now City will switch to other targets, with Javier Pastore looming large on their Plan B, as an attacking midfielder who can play left, right or in the middle.
Palermo president Maurizio Zamparini is trying to arrange a Sanchez-style auction for the Argentina playmaker, who he rates at £44m – not a price City, or anyone else, would be willing to pay.
One signing City are expected to make this week is that of 16-year-old Devante Cole, the son of former City and United star Andy.
He will become full-time on scholarship forms and is expected to sign professional forms when he turns 17 next year
OTHER TRANSFER BOLLOX
Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp will buy "one or two" big players to try and keep Luka Modric at White Hart Lane. Metro
Former Newcastle striker Micky Quinn says Arsenal have enquired about the availability of midfielder Joey Barton. talkSHIT
However, Arsenal legend Ray Parlour says Scott Parker should be signed for the Gunners instead. talkSHIT
Barcelona are considering selling striker David Villa to Chelsea in order to fund the purchase of Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas. Metro
Manchester United are said to be interested in purchasing QPR's Adel Taarabt. Caught Offside
But the playmaker has reportedly said he would rather go to "not very big club" Newcastle.Metro
New Aston Villa boss Alex McLeish wants to take Birmingham's Ben Foster and Scott Dann to Villa Park. Daily Mirror
Scotland's Stephen Crainey has rejected a new contract at Blackpool and is instead looking to join Wigan.Daily Mirror
Norwich have made a £1.75m bid for Huddersfield winger Anthony Pilkington. Daily Mirror
French star Lassana Diarra has been told he can leave Real Madrid and is in talks with Manchester United.Metro
Newcastle have entered a bidding war with Spurs and Lille over Turkish international Mevlut Erding.Metro
Jay Bothroyd's post-Cardiff City future is "yet to be decided" according to his agent Sky Andrew.talkSHIT
Marouane Fellaini is said to be disappointed with Everton's lack of silverware and thinking of other options. the Sun
Blackburn defender Chris Samba wants to sign for Arsenal. the Sun
Barcelona have beaten Manchester United and City to win the race to sign Chilean winger Alexis Sanchez.Daily Telegraph
Birmingham City are considering former Blackburn man Paul Ince as a possible new manager. the Guardian
Manchester United striker Javier Hernandez wants to build on his impressive debut Premier League season. Daily Mail
Chelsea are scounting for scouts as they look to replace talent spotter Frank Arnesen. talkSHITE
