Manchester City have offered Raheem Sterling as a makeweight as part of a bid to prise Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal. Arsenal have insisted that they will not sell Sanchez even though he has less than a year left on his contract and they would be writing off a £60 million plus asset.

But Guardiola is determined to bring Sanchez to the Etihad Stadium and City believe the only way to prise the Chilean away at this late stage may be to include a prominent player as part of any deal.

In what promises to be a frenetic final 72 hours of the transfer window for City, the Manchester club are also expected to lodge a third bid worth up to £30 million today for West Bromwich Albion centre-half Jonny Evans.