Thursday Gossip

by David Clayton@dclayton_MCFC

Mirror: Sanchez high on City's January wishlist

With the January transfer window looming on the horizon, there’s plenty of speculation that City boss Pep Guardiola will try and fine-tune his squad with one or possibly two more signings.


One story dominated the summer months and it looks set to do the same throughout December with the Blues strongly linked with a second attempt at making Alexis Sanchez a City player.

The Mirror are on the case as they report: “Manchester City are preparing a big January offer for Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez, according to reports.

“City had hoped to sign Sanchez over the summer, but a deal never materialised.

“The Independent claim that City will try their luck once again in January and will make a sizable offer for his services.

“Sanchez is out of contract at the end of the season and could talk to foreign clubs in the new year.

“But City are reportedly keen to complete the deal when the window reopens as they look to bolster their squad for the title run-in."

Another name on the radar is believed to be Nice midfielder Jean Michael Seri.

The Daily Mail claim the Blues and Liverpool are interested in a player who was also believed to be a target for Barcelona.

It reads: “The Ivory Coast international is open to a move to the Premier League, with City and Liverpool showing a concrete interest in the Nice midfielder.

“Seri was close to joining Barcelona in the summer after the Catalan club tabled a formal offer worth £35.2million.

“But the bid was rejected by Nice president Jean-Pierre Rivere - much to the annoyance of Seri. However, Europe's big guns are circling again.

“Scouts from City and Liverpool have watched Seri extensively this season and will continue to keep a watching brief ahead of a potential swoop.

“Paris Saint-Germain are also keen on Seri, however a move to England either next month or in the summer is known to excite the 26-year-old.

“Arsenal were also interested in Seri during the summer transfer window but fell short of making a formal offer.

“Seri is fully fit after missing a month of the season through injury and will play a crucial role for Nice as they look to climb the Ligue 1 table. “

Moving on to last night’s loss against Shakhtar and Pep Guardiola has told journalists that he expects his side to come back stronger after the first defeat of the campaign.

Sky Sports take up the story: “The result spoiled Guardiola's milestone 100th appearance as manager in the competition, but he was determined to focus on the positives that he and his players will take from the experience.


‘It hurts. It is never nice to lose a game,’ he said. ‘But we have said many times we cannot win all the time, we are going to lose games. Today was the first.

‘We needed to lose a game. It will be good for the club, for all of us and the media. People say things when you win a lot and you can forget that now.

‘We saw many good things, but we made mistakes and we are going to improve on that. Football is how you recover in the good moments and bad moments to stay stable.’

Finally, Paul Scholes says he thinks United will struggle without the influential Paul Pogba in this weekend’s Manchester derby.

The ex-England and Reds midfielder’s quotes are carried by The Sport Review who write: “The £89m signing has scored three goals and has made five assists in seven Premier League appearances in the 2017-18 season.

“Former Manchester United midfielder Scholes warned Mourinho that Pogba’s absence will leave the Red Devils short in midfield for the Manchester derby on Sunday afternoon.

‘He played well [against CSKA Moscow]. He was good [on Tuesday night]. In patches he was very good, and you can see the goal threat with him.

‘He can take the ball anywhere and is willing to risk passes forward. Without that on Sunday [against Manchester City] you have to wonder whether United can create as many chances as they have done.’

More derby build-up tomorrow…