{"id":643050,"date":"2026-06-17T06:50:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T06:50:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/643050\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T06:50:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T06:50:14","slug":"arsenal-transfer-collapsed-at-the-last-minute-with-92m-target-denied-premier-league-switch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/643050\/","title":{"rendered":"Arsenal transfer collapsed at the last minute with \u00a392m target denied Premier League switch"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mikel Arteta will hope to avoid any late transfer surprises as he looks to strengthen his Premier League-winning Arsenal squad this summer\"Alexis<\/p>\n

Alexis Sanchez was at the centre of a transfer fiasco(Image: Stuart MacFarlane\/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Arsenal once saw a \u00a392million deadline-day transfer collapse<\/a> at the eleventh hour, blocking Alexis Sanchez<\/a> from securing a move to Manchester City<\/a>. The summer window has officially opened in England and the Gunners will already be plotting some fresh signings.<\/p>\n

Mikel Arteta<\/a> is eager to strengthen his squad from a position of power following their Premier League<\/a> success. The Arsenal<\/a> boss will be hoping to sidestep any transfer sagas like the one nine years ago, which left Sanchez watching his City<\/a> ambitions evaporate.<\/p>\n

The Chilean striker had completed three seasons in north London and had caught the eye of Pep Guardiola<\/a> in Manchester. Despite sustained efforts to keep hold of the attacker, Arsenal<\/a> relented and provisionally agreed to a sale<\/a> – but only if they secured a replacement star.<\/p>\n

Monaco’s Thomas Lemar was the target<\/a> and the Gunners stumped up the \u00a392m asking price for the versatile star. City then submitted a \u00a355m bid for Sanchez, which included \u00a35m in add-ons, and Arsenal<\/a> were willing to allow Sanchez to leave.<\/p>\n

Get the latest World Cup news straight to your inbox by signing up to our Make Football Great Again newsletter now!<\/a><\/p>\n

However, Lemar featured for France<\/a> in a 4-0 victory over the Netherlands<\/a> in a World Cup qualifier, which stopped the north London club from finalising the deal. The Guardian<\/a> reported at the time that Arsenal claimed they ran out of time to finalise the big-money move, including Lemar’s medical.<\/p>\n

This deadline-day collapse ruined Sanchez’s switch to City, with Guardiola’s side convinced that the Monaco attacker had simply turned down a move to the Gunners. Arsene Wenger<\/a>, who was still at the Arsenal helm in 2017, had tabled a fresh contract for the Chile international that would have elevated his wages to \u00a3300,000 per week – but Sanchez still walked away.<\/p>\n

\"Thomas<\/p>\n

Thomas Lemar was the target for the Gunners(Image: Javier Borrego\/Europa Press via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Months on, the forward would pitch up at Manchester United<\/a> in a straight swap deal for Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Sanchez landed himself a jaw-dropping package that, including bonuses, could reach as high as \u00a3560,000-a-week throughout his two-and-a-half-year stint at the club.<\/p>\n

Despite pocketing a staggering \u00a335m in wages during his time at United, Sanchez proved a major letdown at Old Trafford. He netted just five goals in 45 appearances, chipping in with nine assists before being shipped out on loan to Inter Milan a little more than a year after his arrival.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Lemar joined Atletico Madrid a year after his protracted transfer saga with Arsenal and remains there to this day. Mkhitaryan proved a modest acquisition, though things could have been far worse had the Gunners splashed nearly \u00a3100m on the French international.<\/p>\n

\"Alexis<\/p>\n

Sanchez was blocked from moving to City and eventually joined United(Image: Shaun Botterill\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Across eight years with the La Liga<\/a> giants, Lemar has managed just 10 goals and 19 assists in 186 appearances. Atleti forked out \u00a363m for his signature, a deal that has largely underwhelmed given his modest output in comparison to his appearances.<\/p>\n

He has recently come back from a season-long loan stint at Girona, netting three goals and providing two assists for the La Liga side. Arteta will be keen to avoid creating any upheaval during this transfer window as he targets going one step further in Europe next season and also holding onto the coveted Premier League trophy.<\/p>\n

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This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more<\/a>\"Content<\/p>\n

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Get the deal here<\/a><\/p>\n

Sky is knocking 20% off its entire range of Glass TVs to mark the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Until June 17, shoppers can upgrade to the Sky smart TV that’s ‘designed for football’ from \u00a34.50 per month when taken alongside a Sky TV and Netflix package.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mikel Arteta will hope to avoid any late transfer surprises as he looks to strengthen his Premier League-winning…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":643051,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[83436,1111,26312,8785,218,11400,37405,2789,2119,221,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-643050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-alexis-sanchez","tag-arsenal-fc","tag-arsene-wenger","tag-atletico-madrid","tag-football","tag-footballblog","tag-internazionale-milano-f-c","tag-la-liga","tag-mikel-arteta","tag-premier-league","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=643050"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643050\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/643051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=643050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=643050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=643050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}