Bayern president hints at pulling out of Sanchez race

Manchester City appears to be unrivaled in its reported attempt to sign Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal.

Bayern Munich may be prepared to pull out of the race to sign the 28-year-old, as club president Uli Hoeness hinted that the fee Arsenal is expected to demand is too high for a player Sanchez's age.

James Olley of the Evening Standard reports that Bayern was prepared to offer Sanchez £350,000 per week based on the assumption Arsenal was willing to accept an offer worth £30 million.

Instead, Arsenal has reportedly valued him closer to £50 million - a sum that City has allegedly considered matching, and one that appears to have priced Bayern out of the running.

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"We are all talking about a reconstruction and about planning Bayern Munich's future," Hoeness told kicker, as translated by the Evening Standard.

"Then we do that, signing young players between 20 and 22 - and there are critics again."

He added: "But you cannot reconstruct a team by signing 29 or 30-year-old players for €100m. That is no policy.

"Either we go all the way with all these young lads, and then they need to have the chance to play, or we don't go it.

"I fully support what has been done so far, it is highly satisfactory and makes sense.

"Niklas Sule, Sebastian Rudy, Serge Gnabry, and Corentin Tolisso are players with huge potential for the future."

Sanchez, who turns 29 in December, is expected to reveal his future plans next month after the Confederations Cup in Russia, where he'll compete in the final with Chile against Germany or Mexico on Sunday.

Bayern's apparent withdrawal is just the latest wrinkle in a saga that has persisted for the better part of a year, as Sanchez gets set to enter the final 12 months of his Arsenal contract without any signs of a new agreement on the horizon.