This is not a vent board or any other kind of therapy. Before you hit the POST button, ask yourself if your contribution will add to the level of discussion going on.

Important notes on articles:

• Please do not copy entire articles into your post; rather, provide links to them.. We are now links-only for ALL Internet publications. If only a small portion of the article pertains to your post, Fair Use allows you to copy those one or two paragraphs, provided you cite the author's name and the publication for which he writes. Otherwise, put a link in the HTTP Link box.
• Even if you're copying a reference to an article, provide a link to the page from which the article came. We're trying to cut down on duplicate topics, and the posting process will check the link to your article to see if it's already being discussed on this board. At the very least, you'll save yourself some grief on the boards.
• If your first reaction after reading the article you're going to share is the author is uninformed / stupid / a jerk / all of the above, it's not worth sharing with anyone. Not every article needs to be discussed. The more the hair-pulling articles are discussed (e.g. ESPN Page 2), the more the authors will write hair-pulling articles.

Post being replied to

Ox wasn't out of contract. Sanchez can (and will) leave for by tex29

free next summer. So his transfer fee is less valuable by comparison. A team isn't going to pay full market value for a player they can get free next season.

Arsenal told City it wasn't going to sell Sanchez. Period. Full stop. City suspected Arsenal would eventually come around once it realized Sanchez was not going to re-sign or agree to go to Bayern or PSG (who Aresenal preferred to deal with). But City was not going to make a formal offer unless encouraged to do so. Arsenal had all summer to find a replacement. And it knew City would be willing to pay around £50 million. Only Arsenal knew for sure whether it would eventually sell. And if it was going to be willing to do that if it found a replacement, it was up to Arsenal to find the replacement.

My guess -- which is only that -- is that Arsene didn't want to sell (because he needs to win this season), and the board eventually overruled him. But by the time it did, it had to scramble to negotiate and find a replacement. Maybe it thought City was desperate enough to give up Sterling. In any event, City can't be blamed for Arsenal's inability to line up a replacement, if its willingness to sell was going to be contingent on that outcome.