Bayern Munich have seemingly ruled out a move for Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez, leaving Manchester City unrivalled in the race to sign the player, understood to be for around £50m.

The Bundesliga champions have been heavily linked with a move for the Chilean, with Arturo Vidal even admitting he had been trying to persuade Sanchez to move the Munich while the pair were on international duty together.

But Club president Uli Hoeness has claimed the club must focus on building around youth rather than experience, thus ruling out the signing of 28-year-old Sanchez, who only has 12 months remaining on his contract at the Emirates.

“Everyone is talking about building a new team and how Bayern Munich's future must be shaped,” he told Kicker.

“And then Bayern does exactly that - signs young players between 20 and 22 - and is criticised once again.

“But you can't build a new team with €100m transfers for 29 and 30-year-olds. That isn't a policy.

“Either we go down this road with all these young players, all getting a chance to play, or we don't go down this road.”

That leaves Manchester City in pole position to sign Sanchez from Arsenal, with Pep Guardiola known to be a huge fan of him having signed him for Barcelona in 2011. And Sanchez is also understood to retain the desire to play under the Spaniard again, despite the Gunners’ desperation not to sell to a Premier League rival.

Sanchez has refused to sign a new deal at the Emirates and is out of contract next summer with Arsenal offering him £250,000-a-week compared to £300,000-a-week he could earn at City. Chelsea are understood to be out of the running.

However, Arsenal would not allow Sanchez to leave the club for less than £50m despite having so little time left on his contract and would want to secure a replacement first.

Kylian Mbappe is still Arsene Wenger’s first choice although it appears they are firmly behind Real Madrid in that chase while Lyon are reluctant to sell Alexandre Lacazette.

Mbappe’s teammate Thomas Lemar is another Arsenal target but the French champions are reluctant to sell any more of their best players after the departure of Bernardo Silva to Manchester City this month.