Transfer round-up: Liverpool enter race for Alexis Sanchez as Manchester United abandon Griezmann bid

That has alerted Manchester United to the forward's availability, and a Manchester bidding-war could well be triggered with reports that United will over him around £350,000-a-week in wages to blow City out of the water. Liverpool are also interested in the Chilean, but are currently the outsiders in the hunt for the sought-after 29-year-old.

Jose Mourinho meanwhile is prepared to abandon plans to sign Antoine Griezmann or Gareth Bale in the summer in order to sign Sanchez, with next Friday set to be the deadline for a January move. Arsenal are considering a move for Bordeaux forward Malcom to replace Sanchez, with the Brazilian starring in Saturday's 1-0 victory over Troyes in which he set up the only goal of the game.

RB Leipzig meanwhile claim that Liverpool are yet to contact them over rushing through their planned move for Naby Keita earlier than planned, with the Reds considering a new deal to sign him this month.

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Where else to start than with Arsenal's want-away forward Alexis Sanchez, who suddenly looks to have three options on the table to leave the north London club this month.

The Chile international is still expected to join Manchester City, as he favours a return to playing under Pep Guardiola, but Manchester United are doing their best to disrupt the deal and are, according to reports, ready to offer Sanchez a whopping £350,000-a-week to move to Old Trafford.

However, out of the blue Liverpool have entered the race to sign Sanchez, fresh with the £142m that they could receive for Philippe Coutinho should his move to Barcelona generate all the included bonus clauses.

Clouding the matter is the news that City will not offer any more than £20m to sign Sanchez this month, given that they are fully aware of his availability to join for free this summer. That could open the door for United, but they will need to move quickly if they are to seal his signature as a deadline has been put on any move by his agent of next Friday.

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Liverpool fans desperate to see Naby Keita come to Anfield as soon as possible will be disappointed to learn that, according to the Liverpool Echo, there has been "no progression at all" over new terms to push forward the summer move to go through this month.

The RB Leipzig midfielder was on target as his side beat Schalke 3-1 last night, and it appears that for the near-future at least, the Guinea international will be remaining in the Bundesliga.

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Manchester United appear to be putting all of their eggs in the Alexis Sanchez basket, as reports this morning suggest that the club have scrapped plans to bid for Antoine Griezmann and Gareth Bale in the summer in order to try and steal the Arsenal man from under the noses of their rivals.

According to the Mail on Sunday, Jose Mourinho is prepared to abandon moves for the two La Liga stars in order to land Sanchez, who could be offered as much as £350,000-a-week that would make him the highest-paid player in the Premier League.

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Liverpool's move for Monaco forward Thomas Lemar hit a potential snag this weekend after it emerged that the forward does have small reservations about a move to Anfield, with his concerns regarding his potential playing time in Klopp's first team.

That may seem ridiculous, but Lemar could well find himself competing with Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane for a place in the first-team, and given he is the youngest of the three, the Frenchman may end up being the odd man out.

With Manchester City set to travel to Liverpool later today for the big Premier League encounter of the weekend, Pep Guardiola has addressed the recent departure of Philippe Coutinho, who joined Guardiola's former club Barcelona earlier int he month.

The City boss does not believe that the absence of the little Brazilian will make his task of beating Jürgen Klopp's side any easier though, with the Reds still having plenty of attacking options to choose from to hurt the current league leaders.