Tonight could be one of the last times, if not the final instance that Alexis Sanchez dons an Arsenal shirt. If that is to be the case, the Gunners have a potential replacement lined up in Brazilian star Malcolm.
It’s a London Derby semi-final as Arsenal head to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea. Alexis may be in the starting line-up as Gunners boss Arsene Wenger could be forced to field a strong side in this one, having just crashed out of the FA Cup a few days ago.
There’s a ton of traction right now in regards to the Sanchez to Manchester City narrative, and some sources claim he could be with his new team by the weekend. It’s prompted one of City’s biggest stars, Kevin De Bruyne, to speak about everything that the Chilean would bring to the Man City table.
“[He is] a very good player,” De Bruyne told a group of assembled media.
“Obviously we will see what happens in this transfer period. We don’t have to take care about that anyway. If a good player comes to us that is better; if he doesn’t come we do it with the team we have. We are on a good period already, the whole season. Everybody is doing a good job. When he comes, he will add something to the team.”
If Arsenal’s star forward, out of contract at the end of the season, does move on, then Bordeaux winger Malcolm could be brought in to one day try and help fill the void.
The Times has a report today stating:
Arsenal’s representatives plan to meet the agent of Malcom today in an effort to steal a march on the winger’s signature, which could pave the way for Alexis Sánchez to leave.
The 20-year-old, who has also been monitored by Tottenham Hotspur, is one of Europe’s hot prospects on the back of his seven goals and four assists in 18 league games for Bordeaux this season.
The publication quotes a potential transfer fee of £45 million. It will be interesting to see, should both of these deals be closed, what other January transfer window dominoes could fall after that.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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