Bayern Munich have reportedly joined the race for Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez, and have offered €65m for the Chilean international.
On first glance, that’s a staggering amount of money for a player with just over 12 months remaining on his contract, but such is the quality that the 28-year-old possesses, it’s no real surprise that interest is high and big offers are likely to be made.
Sanchez has yet to sign a contract extension with Arsenal and in truth, there has been no real positive development in the situation for some time as neither party have suggested that an agreement over a new deal is imminent.
In turn, The Telegraph report that Bayern are ready to swoop in and take advantage of the situation, and they’re prepared to dig deep into their pockets and splash out €65m on the former Barcelona star.
Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City, Chelsea and Juventus are all mentioned in the report as being interested, but it looks as though Bayern are the first European giant to step forward and make a serious bid to try and prise him away from the Emirates earlier than expected.
Arsenal face the tough task of facing Manchester United on Sunday as they sit nine points adrift of the top four in the Premier League with two games in hand.
However, it’s been another disappointing campaign which has left them fighting for Champions League qualification, while the FA Cup will surely be seen as a consolation prize for many of their supporters.
In turn, keeping their top players like Sanchez is always going to be more difficult, and if Bayern’s interest is concrete, then the appeal of challenging for major honours year in and year out, both domestic and in Europe, will surely be more than enough to prise him away from Arsenal if an agreement on a fee can be reached.