The final days and hours of the transfer window seem to be conforming to the usual pattern, the one that makes everyone wonder why, if clubs can get so much done in so short a time, they could not have compressed all their business into a few selected weeks of the close season.

The possibility of Alexis Sánchez moving from Arsenal to Manchester City is one that already seems to have been around for several lifetimes and there are even claims the Arsenal players are now hoping it goes through because the Chilean’s attitude has become so disruptive. The end of the window on Thursday cannot come soon enough.

One imagines City will get their man, with or without Raheem Sterling moving in the opposite direction, at which point a tiny sigh of disappointment will be forgivable from anyone who imagined Pep Guardiola was going to be a breath of fresh air in English football.

Naturally it is still possible to support the City manager’s passion for attacking football and desire to surround himself with top players, though the impression gleaned from the Barcelona years was that here was a coach with a new way of playing, someone who could improve the effectiveness of the players at his disposal by taking teamwork and tactical awareness to new levels. No one imagined Guardiola could turn City into Barcelona just by coming over and breathing on them, though by the same token, few could have supposed it would have cost so much money and duplication to knock a capable side into the team of his dreams.

The duplication element is important because it is so wasteful. If Sánchez arrives at the Etihad it appears one or both of Sterling and Sergio Agüero will be collateral damage. Both are excellent footballers and neither has done anything to let the club down. Agüero is one of the best finishers in the business, probably the sharpest goalgetter in England, and though Sterling is nowhere near as clinical in front of goal he has boundless pace and energy.

The raw material is there, in other words and surely a coach of Guardiola’s status should be finding ways to bring the best out of such players rather than marginalising them in favour of spending even more money on other clubs’ leading performers.

There seems little doubt Agüero and Sterling would find themselves on the periphery. It happened to an extent last season when Gabriel Jesus arrived and might have created more of a problem had the Brazilian managed to stay fit. Now Jesus is back in action there is no way City can shoehorn him into the same frontline as Agüero, Sánchez, both Silvas, Sterling and Leroy Sané, and whatever problems are solved by the arrival of the Arsenal man are likely to be offset by departure or disillusionment among the rest of the squad.

Perhaps Guardiola is prepared for that, perhaps Agüero does not do enough work outside the penalty box and perhaps Sterling was always going to struggle to score enough goals to live up to his £49m fee. Yet there is no guarantee Sánchez would significantly outperform either and the possibility exists that Guardiola has already signed enough attacking players.

There is no doubting Sánchez’s quality, at least when he is fully focused on playing, though most City supporters seem to be perfectly happy with the offensive players already at the club and still a little bit anxious about the situation in central defence. For all their money City are still not quite the club with everything, and nor will they be should they complete the signing of Sánchez.

Spending £70m on the luxury of a world-class forward is all very well, though quite a few people in Manchester would like to see the club show the same tenacity and perseverance in their pursuit of Jonny Evans.