Manchester City round-up: Sanchez edging closer; Navas poised for Sevilla return; midfielder all-but confirms exit

Add as preferred source on Google

According to the Manchester Evening News this morning, Manchester City’s squad are reportedly already discussing the prospect of Alexis Sanchez arriving at the Etihad as they look to force a deal.

The report claims that, despite already having the fire-power of Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus within the Etihad ranks, Guardiola is insistent on strengthening his attacking options for next year.

And the Mirror claimed yesterday that the Chilean is now preparing himself to hand in an official transfer request at Arsenal this week as he looks to push through a reunion with boss Pep Guardiola.

But Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, as per BBC Sport, dismissed such allegations, insisting that Sanchez will be returning to training tomorrow and that there remains no intention of letting him go.

In other news, reports surfacing from Spain over the course of the day have all-but confirmed that ex-Manchester City winger Jesus Navas will be returning to his former side Sevilla in the next week.

The 31-year-old was part of Pep Guardiola’s mass clear-out at the end of June, being released alongside Pablo Zabaleta, Gael Clichy, Bacary Sagna and Willy Caballero, and is such a free agent.

And Sport believe that the formalities of a return to Sevilla are currently been finalised, with Margarita Garay, who represents Navas, travelling to Spain today to sign a binding agreement.

Navas featured 394 times for Sevilla across all competitions in his previous spell, scoring 34 times across ten years, and it is understood that he will re-join the La Liga side on a three-year contract.

Another player that looks destined to be leaving Manchester this summer is Brazilian midfielder Fernando, who is seemingly on his way to Turkish side Galatasaray, after his latest Instagram post.

He has – according to the Manchester Evening News – been told by Guardiola that he is surplus to requirements at the Etihad, also being left out of City’s pre-season tour of the United States, and he posted a picture on social media earlier today with the caption “together for the new challenge”.

And with respected Turkish news outlet Milliyet reporting a fortnight ago that Galatasaray were closing in on agreeing a deal for the 29-year-old, it’s expected he will be announced by the end of the week.

Fernando has struggled to make an impact since the arrival of Guardiola last summer, only being utilised as a bench player, and his only start of 2017 came during the FA Cup draw with Huddersfield.