Alexis Sanchez’s situation at Arsenal is set to become a lot clearer during the last few days of this summer’s transfer window. The Chilean has been linked with a move away from the Emirates throughout the summer, having just one year remaining on his contract and showing no desire to renew.

Arsene Wenger has remained insistent that the star man will not be allowed to leave the club under any circumstances, despite the threat of losing him for free next summer. The manager has repeatedly expressed his desire for Sanchez to extend his contract at the club – something the forward seems reluctant to do.

After Arsenal’s 4-0 battering at the hands of Liverpool, it was yesterday claimed that Alexis Sanchez had handed in a transfer request to Arsenal, supposedly seeking Champions League football. However, this has been played down by officials at Arsenal.

The general feeling at the start of the summer was that Sanchez was heading to Manchester City, linking up with former Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola. City have been very smart with their transfer dealings this summer, and there is a sense that signing Alexis from the Gunners would be the final piece of the jigsaw for the Sky Blues in winning the Premier League and pushing for the Champions League this season.

City are clearly interested in the forward, and it has been reported that they are willing to offer cash + Raheem Sterling in order to tempt Arsenal into selling. However, with no official reports of a Manchester City offer, speculation continues about where the no.7 will end up when the transfer window shuts at 11pm on Thursday.

Now, with just days to go until that transfer deadline, there has been another big twist in the tale. The feeling that Alexis Sanchez could be on his way to Manchester remains, but now there are rumours of Manchester United being involved in proceedings, as well as their fierce rivals City.

Jose Mourinho has expressed his desire to add at least one more player to his squad this summer. The Portuguese admitted he would like to sign a winger to help bolster his attacking options. There have been plenty of names touted for moves to Old Trafford this summer, mainly Gareth Bale and Ivan Perisic.

Bale’s proposed move to United is something Mourinho has admitted he would be in favour of, but the deal hinges on Madrid’s unwillingness to sell one of their star players. Perisic, on the other hand, is a player that everyone expected to join United this summer. Inter Milan initially seemed intent on demanding a high transfer fee of around £50m for the Croatian international, something Manchester United were unwilling to comply with. However, this always seemed a little strange when you consider that United’s bids were supposedly in the region of £40-45m, perhaps suggesting that the Red’s didn’t actually see Perisic as a first choice winger of theirs this summer. Use the Alvaro Morata situation last month as an example.

There have been various players linked with moves away from Old Trafford this summer, including a certain defender that Arsenal are known admirers of – Chris Smalling. If Manchester City are willing to offer cash + Sterling, why can’t United offer more cash + Smalling? Either way, let’s hope this transfer saga ends similarly to that of Dimitar Berbatov’s back in 2008.

So it begs the question. If Manchester United fail to wrap up a deal for Gareth Bale this summer, could Alexis Sanchez be an option for Mourinho? Of course, Arsene Wenger would rather run through the streets of North London with a Spurs shirt on than sell to Jose Mourinho, or indeed Manchester United. But, if the right offer was tabled by Ed Woodward, an offer too good to be refused – perhaps there could be one final twist in the tale after all.