Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has suggested that Paris Saint-German have dropped their interest in Alexis Sanchez in order to pursue a deal for Monaco star Kylian Mbappe.
PSG, Bayern Munich and Manchester City have all been mentioned as potential suitors of Sanchez, who is in the final year of his deal at the Emirates Stadium.
Wenger admits his club are yet to make inroads in tying the Chile forward down to fresh terms, but he did so while throwing considerable fuel onto one of the transfer window’s longest-burning fires.
City, Real Madrid and PSG are thought to be battling it out to sign Mbappe, who could cost any of them an estimated £180-million. And Wenger believes the €222m signing of Neymar will not hold the Parisians back.
Wenger said: ‘I think if you read the French papers they are on Mbappe’s case to finish their transfer market.
‘That’s what I read in the papers and on my side I had no contact at all with Paris Saint-Germain [about Sanchez].’
Wenger remains determined to keep Sanchez at Arsenal, after he scored 30 goals in all competitions last term and says the club will not be tempted into a late-window sale.
‘It’s always possible when players are in final year of contract [to renew],’ the Frenchman added.
‘We will try to extend the contract. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t do it but we are not there yet.
‘I think we are not open to any offers anyway.’
– This story originally appeared on FourFourTwo.co.za