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Manchester City will reportedly hold off on making a January move for Alexis Sanchez as they'd prefer to secure the forward on a free transfer in the summer instead.

According to Simon Mullock of the Sunday Mirror, City remain unhappy at the Gunners for the way in which interest in the Chilean was handled during the previous window. As noted in the report, City were close to completing a £60 million deal late in the transfer window before the plug was pulled.

"Arsene Wenger's attempt to get City to agree to a deal that would see Raheem Sterling move to the Emirates was rejected by Pep Guardiola," noted Mullock. "And the London club then accepted a bid of £60 million from City just hours before the deadline—only to pull out when they failed with their own £90 million mission to replace him with Monaco's Thomas Lemar."

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It's reported that City, as a result, "will not give Arsenal a penny for Sanchez," whose contract is set to expire at the end of the campaign.

Mullock suggested Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain have made their interest known in the 28-year-old, though Sanchez's remarkable wage demands of £500,000 a week make a deal unlikely with either at this point.

For Arsenal, losing a player of Sanchez's ability for nothing will be galling. Per Tony Scott of the Liverpool Echo, in the recent meeting between the Gunners and Everton, the forward was sensational in a 5-2 win:

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By not moving him on in the summer, the club have opened themselves up to this possibility.

In the week Arsenal's majority shareholder Stan Kroenke suggested there was still some hope of keeping Sanchez at the club and tying him down to a new deal, per John Cross of the Daily Mirror. However, at this point the chances of him being in the red-and-white jersey in 2018-19 appear to be extremely unlikely.

The chances of him being in a sky-blue one are much healthier, it would seem. And the prospect of that is an ominous one for the rest of the Premier League. As noted by the bwin Twitter account, Guardiola has City playing a stunning brand of football:

At the moment, there is a plethora of attacking talent available to the City boss and they have been expertly rotated by their coach in recent weeks, meaning they have all been able to find brilliant form.

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Sanchez would have to fight for his position in this side, though it's easy to see him fitting in anywhere across the front line. The Arsenal man is a hard worker, is positionally astute and can change a game in an instant with his mercurial talent.

The Gunners look as though they'll have him for the duration of the campaign, and the supporters will hope Sanchez can give them some memorable moments before he moves on. But should he go to City on a free transfer and tear up the Premier League under Guardiola, it'll be a tough watch for those who frequent the Emirates Stadium.