Arsenal: Sergio Aguero for Alexis Sanchez unlikely yet intriguing

Per reports, Manchester City are willing to sweeten their offer for Alexis Sanchez with Sergio Aguero. While unlikely, it is an intriguing option for Arsenal that should be explored.

Entering the summer transfer window, the two biggest and most important decisions that Arsenal and Arsene Wenger had to make centred on the futures of Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez. The duo are the best players in the squad, influencing and impacting the game in more ways than the statistics, however impressive they may be, could ever portray, have delayed contract talks on a number of occasions and now hold all the power at the negotiating table with just one year remaining.

While very little has been settled, at least on a public level, from the narrative and trajectory of the reports surrounding their futures, it is reasonable to think that, of the two, Sanchez is the far more likely to leave. In fact, not only is Sanchez more likely to leave than Ozil, but he’s more likely to depart full stop.

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For Arsenal, once they have resigned themselves to losing the Chilean, a time that is surely close to arriving, the priority must shift from trying to keep him at the Emirates, to ensuring that they get the best deal possible, both in terms of value and destination.

It is not just about driving the hardest possible bargain. It would be wise to sell him for a cheaper price if that means he leaves the Premier League altogether and does not play for a domestic rival. For Manchester City, the leading English club in the race to sign Sanchez, that means that they must sweeten the deal that they are offering the Gunners.

And rather than simply increase the price that they are willing to pay, the Citizens are, per reports, set to offer unwanted striker Sergio Aguero in a straight swap.

Pep Guardiola is a notoriously stubborn and expecting manager. He demands a level and type of performance that Aguero does not have the skillset for. Gabriel Jesus, meanwhile, as the young pretender, boasts the athleticism and the stamina to press high up the pitch, harassing the opposing defence as Pep instructs.

The reports themselves are rather vague. There is little detail and, in the grand scheme of things, are more likely to be pure speculation than based on any foundation of truth. But that does not mean that Aguero should not be an avenue that Arsenal explore.

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He has been prolific throughout his time at City, has extensive success in the Premier League, brings the goalscoring pedigree that Wenger has been searching for and is clearly not a part of Guardiola’s plans. The straight swap deal seems a little fanatical, but it sure is intriguing.

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