United offer more money, but City’s Champions League trump card does the trick.
Arsenal right-back Bacary Sagna has agreed to join Manchester City this summer after rejecting a move to rivals Manchester United, according to the Daily Star.
The 31-year-old, who has been a Gunners player since July 2007, will become a free agent when his current contract expires next month.
Arsenal have offered him a new deal, which is said to be worth £80,000 per week for two years, but much more lucrative offers are available elsewhere.
The Mirror claims that Sagna will put pen to paper on a three-year £140,000-a-week contract at City before the World Cup, which gets underway on June 12.
The newspaper also report that the Frenchman, who has been capped 39 times at senior international level, turned down an offer from Old Trafford that would have earned him £1m more per season.
Sagna’s apparent reason for rejecting United is that he wants to play Champions League football.
Premier League champions City will go straight into the group phase of next season’s Champions League, while United will not even be in the Europa League following their seventh place finish in the English top flight.
Sanga was part of the Arsenal team that won the FA Cup on Saturday – his first trophy in England.