City To Reduce Offer For Alexis & Europa Squad Announced

City likely to offer £20 million for Sanchez

After a deadline day move for Alexis Sanchez broke down, Manchester City look set to return in January, but with a reduced bid. By that time the forward will have just six months remaining on his current contract and at the moment shows no intention of signing a new deal. Arsenal may have brought in £60 million in the summer but could not find a replacement for the Chile international in time and so the deal fell through. January seems a long way off at the moment but City are unlikely to increase their bid given Sanchez’s remaining contract so it really is dependent on Arsenal to find a solution or accept a low fee.

Wenger calls for changes to the transfer window

After a poor showing in the summer transfer period and with talks already starting of January moves it is no surprise that Arsene Wenger wants to see a change to the rules. In a recent interview, he calls for the scrapping of the January window. It is a move which would have its benefits for many and with less business now happening in January, could it be time to assess the current format? Wenger had the following to say:

“The players who do not play or the players who are tapped up in October they already start again to think: ‘Where do I go in January?’. That’s not a way to be on board with a football club. We are here to entertain people and you can do that with people who are really on board together, to achieve something together and not every minute that it doesn’t go well to think: ‘Where can I go next?’. I believe that we have to bring some decency. We all complain today that it has become too much a business, but we can do something about it. We have that responsibility in the game. You can’t have a player preparing for a vital football game and still be on the phone at 4 o’clock: ‘Do I go or not?’ or ‘How much is it?’, ‘Where do I go?’.”

Keen to see teams settled before the season starts the Arsenal boss continued, saying:

“The ideal situation would be to have a transfer period that is closed 48 hours before the first game of the championship and to close it completely until the season after.”

Surprise inclusions to Europa squad

Arsenal’s involvement in the Europa League this season was never going to be an ideal distraction to have when trying to break back into the top four. It remains to be seen just how seriously the club will take the competition but as Manchester United proved last season it can provide a golden ticket to the Champions League. Judging from the announced 39-man squad for the competition though, there could be plenty of rotation. Forgotten man Matthieu Debuchy has been included after last appearing for the club almost a year ago. Also included are a number of youth prospects who will be hoping for some game experience.
Europa squad in full:
Goalkeepers: Cech, Ospina, Huddart, Iliev, Keto, Macey
Defenders: Debuchy, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Holding, Monreal, Mustafi, Chambers, Bellerín, Kolasinac, Bielik, Bola, Johnson, Moore
Midfielders: Ramsey, Wilshere, Ozil, Xhaka, Coquelin, Elneny, Iwobi, Reine-Adelaide, Maitland-Niles, Gilmour, McGuane, Nelson, Sheaf
Forwards: Alexis, Lacazette, Giroud, Walcott, Welbeck, Akpom, Da Silva

Arsenal join list of sides interested in Barcelona player

Arsenal have joined a list of Europe’s top sides who are interested in the services of Barcelona midfielder Rafinha. Apparently, the 24-year-old Brazilian was available to move in the summer window but remains at the Camp Nou. Now Arsenal join the likes of Liverpool, Tottenham and the two Milan clubs who are all interested in launching a January bid. The midfielder is currently working his way back to fitness following a knee injury but has found the net 11 times for Barcelona.