Money talks: Sanchez's club Udinese favoured
City's cash upfront offer to Barca's part-exchange
Alexis Sanchez refused to fly for talks
with
Manchester City after Udinese
accepted a £30million-plus offer from Eastlands for the winger,
according to reports.
City's bid had trumped those of both Barcelona
and
Manchester United but
Sanchez told his club he did not want to speak to the FA Cup
winners and instead stayed with a Chile training camp, reports The
Mirror.
Sanchez is said to favour either Barca or United
over City, but the European champions' part cash, part player-swap
offer was snubbed in favour of a bid by the Blues, who offered
money upfront. City also outbid United, who have tabled a £27m
offer.
Gino Pozzo,
the son of Udinese president Giampaolo Pozzo, admitted that the
Spanish giants remain the leading contenders for the 22-year-old
forward.
'I can say that Barcelona have the advantage over
Manchester City right now,' Pozzo said. 'The player has not
manifested any particular preference, although naturally we will
listen to his opinion.
'We haven't concluded any deal yet because there
are still some details to work through.'
Sanchez is City's top summer transfer target but
Roberto Mancini appeared destined to miss out on the star's
signature after he held talks with the Spanish giants, who had
agreed a fee thought to be in the region of £22m, plus a
player.
But a dramatic turn of events seemed to have
re-opened the door for a mega-money move to City after Jeffren - a
makeweight in Barca's move for Sanchez - revealed he does not want
to join the Serie A club.
With Sanchez set to represent the South American
country in the Copa America time is running out to finalise a move
before the start of the tournament on July 1.
Not-so-flying winger: Alexis Sanchez refused to get on
a plane and meet with Manchester City
