Manchester City end Sanchez interest and Chelsea join the race

As revealed by 'Sky Sports', Manchester City have decided to end their pursuit of Alexis Sanchez because the cost of a potential deal.

Pep Guardiola held crunch talks with Manchester City chief executive Ferran Soriano and football director Txiki Begiristain. With the forward looking to leave the Emirates as soon as possible, his destination will not be the Etihad.

City would have had to commit to spending in excess of £60m to compete with offers already on the table for the Arsenal forward, something that Pep Guardiola and the club were unwilling to do.

With the Citizens out of the race for the Chilean, Manchester United are free to make a bid of their own for the 29-year-old.

Sources with knowledge of the situation understand Chelsea are also interested in the player, but United are currently the closest to securing a deal.

The Blues are yet to make a formal offer but they have a history of signing players under the radar. The race to sign Sanchez is on, and it's no longer a two-horse race.