Manchester City Pull Out Of Sanchez Race, Barcelona Favorites

English club Manchester City have pulled out of the race to sign Udinese attacker Alexis Sanchez, according to reports. City manager Roberto Mancini told the media that they had given up on Sanchez as the player only wanted to move to Barcelona, and a deal with the Catalans is expected to be tied up shortly.

Sanchez on his way to Barcelona

City were keen to add the 22 year old forward to their ranks, but have finally admitted defeat following some serious offers because the Chilean’s heart seems set on the Nou Camp. Speaking to Sky Sports Italia, manager Roberto Mancini revealed that he had spoken to Sanchez and had subsequently decided to withdraw from all negotiations due to the player’s unwillingness to move anywhere but Spain.

Mancini said-

“I talked to Alexis, but he wants to move to Barcelona. We have thus decided to withdraw from the negotiations to buy the player, although we have made some serious offers for him,”

Representatives from Udinese have revealed that the deal with Barcelona is almost complete, with some minor issue in the transfer fees remaining to be sorted out. Both the clubs agree on the 40 million Euros valuation of the player, but Barcelona want to break it down into 27 million up front plus performance-based add-ons, whereas Udinese prefer the cash be paid all at once.

But both clubs seem willing to complete the transfer as quickly as possible, and in a hassle-free manner. Gino Pozzo, son of Udinese president Giampaolo, said to Il Corriere dello Sport, that Udinese were trying their utmost to make the transfer happen for Sanchez’s sake. Although he remained non-committal on the certainty of a transfer, he was optimistic that talks would reach a satisfactory conclusion sooner rather than later.

Pozzo said-

“The negotiations with Barcelona are still ongoing and we will find a solution. The boy’s desire is to move to Barcelona and we are looking to find a way to make this happen. We will continue talks and we will see what happens,”

Although when Pozzo junior was asked about City’s involvement in the Sanchez deal, he refused to acknowledge any contact between the two clubs and requested the media to talk to City officials about it instead.

“Whether City have pulled out of the race to sign him, you’d have to ask them. We never really negotiated with them.”

It remains to be seen whet this most protracted of transfer sagas finally reaches a conclusion to Barcelona’s liking or not. It looks more likely than ever now.