Alexis Sanchez was on the brink of a move to Pep Guardiola's all-conquering Manchester City side.

But rivals Manchester United were waiting in the wings with a huge financial package, committing £180million over 4.5 years to tempt the Chilean to Old Trafford.

Sportsmail's Mike Keegan takes you through the twists and turns of a remarkable transfer gazumping.

He was indeed. Deadline day, to be precise. City have actually been on Sanchez’s trail for a long time. Often, calls between Ivan Gazidis and Ferran Soriano would end with the City executive asking his Arsenal counterpart if Sanchez was available. It became a running joke between the two men.

But on the last day of the window, with Sanchez no nearer to signing a new contract, Arsenal decided to press the button.

A phone call was made and the deal was agreed. However, when replacement Thomas Lemar knocked Arsenal back, the lines of communication went silent – leaving City furious.

He did. On January 11, the Belgian said the following: ‘He’s a very good player. When he comes, he will add something to the team.’ To be fair, De Bruyne then went on to issue a disclaimer.

‘Obviously we will see what happens in this transfer period,’ he said. 'If a good player comes to us that is better, if he doesn’t come, we do it with the team we have.’

Regardless, it was an open secret. Sanchez wanted a reunion with ex-Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola and the love was reciprocated. It appeared to be a formality – with Arsenal wanting to save a little bit of face and cash out before Sanchez’s contract expired.

The rules of modern day football dictates that the player, or to be more specific the player and his agent, hold all the aces. Sanchez and his representative knew that, while negotiations were ongoing between the clubs, at £30m a player of his quality was an absolute steal.

And so, with a whiff of interest from across town, they started issuing demands. As revealed by Sportsmail, United’s need for a creative, attacking player was well known.

They had issued a memo to certain agents telling them they were on the lookout for fullbacks and a playmaker in this window and it did not go unnoticed.
Enough to make your eyes water. Wages off the charts at £27m a year, a signing-on fee of around £20m, an agent’s fee of more than £10m and on top of all that, £30m to Arsenal.

City began to ponder whether Sanchez was worth it. The club have been working towards sustainability. Gone are the days of them blowing everyone else out of the water, as they did following the Abu Dhabi takeover in a desperate, ultimately successful bid to bridge the gap to the elite before Financial Fair Play kicked in.

The figures began to not make sense and the behaviour of Sanchez’s agent, Fernado Felicevich began to grate.

There are other factors at play here. City knew that if they paid Sanchez what he was asking for, it could unsettle the likes of De Bruyne and co, who may want the same.

Potentially, it would open a door to a world of financial pain and derail what promises to be a season for the ages at the Etihad Stadium. The player’s age, at 29, also came into play.

The feeling that this was not the right move for the club, began to spread among the offices of the City Football Academy. ‘At that money, United can have him,’ was the consensus.

While they would never say it in public, there was also a feeling that, far from leaving them with egg on their faces, United’s swoop will serve only to underline what some see as a scattergun transfer policy since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson.

It used to be City chasing their tails trying to catch up with their neighbours. Now it would appear to be the other way around.