Football
Adriana Garcia 7y

Alexis Sanchez focused on Chile and Confederations Cup, not on his future

Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez says his full focus is on helping Chile win the Confederations Cup and not on deciding which club he will play for in the future, amid reports that Bayern Munich are attempting to make him their highest-paid player.

Sanchez, 28, has been the subject of much transfer speculation in recent months with the Daily Mirror claiming Bayern are willing to pay him £350,000 a week to join and the Daily Telegraph adding they are prepared to offer Arsenal £40 million for his services. Chelsea and Manchester City are also reportedly interested in purchasing the Chile international this summer.

When asked if he will extend his current deal with Arsenal, which ends in June 2018, Sanchez told AS Chile: "That is something that my agent is looking into. Right now, I'm focused on the [Confederations] Cup."

Sanchez, who arrived at the Emirates Stadium in the summer of 2014 in a £31.7m transfer from Barcelona, was Arsenal's top scorer last season in the Premier League with 24 goals. He also set up 10 more in 38 league appearances, with 36 coming as a starter.

Sanchez joined Chile's national team on Thursday in Moscow and was the centre of attention during their training session. He could feature in Friday's international friendly against Russia.

"I'm in good form and I'm very eager," Sanchez said. "It's up to the coach [Juan Antonio Pizzi], but I feel good. I always want to play but it depends on the coach. I hope I will play some minutes against Russia."

Sanchez has plenty of motivation to increase his goal tally on Russian soil with the former Barca star one shy of becoming Chile's all-time top scorer. He is currently level on 37 goals with Marcelo Salas.

Sanchez had a starring role in helping Chile retain the Copa America last year, scoring three goals and setting up two more in six starts in the competition, and he is determined to add more silverware to his CV.

"We have won the Copa Centenario [2016 Copa America] and now we want to win the Confederations Cup," he said. "We are capable of doing so."

A poll in Chile in which 10,000 people took part, according to AS, revealed that nine out of 10 people believe their nation will win the Confederations Cup.

Chile make their debut in the competition on June 19 against Cameroon in Moscow and then face Germany four days later in Kazan. They end their group-stage campaign against Australia on June 25 in Moscow.

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