Barca set sights on Sanchez

Barcelona vice-president Josep Maria Bartomeu is hopeful his club will win the race to sign Udinese star Alexis Sanchez.

The Chilean international winger enjoyed a stellar season for Udinese, scoring 12 goals from 31 league appearances to help the side finish fourth in Serie A, and Barca are keen to secure the 22-year-old.

“We are in talks for Sanchez,” Bartomeu told Chilean newspaper La Tercera.

“We know he is a player of value and for that reason there are a lot of clubs chasing him. We’ll have to continue talking and see what happens in the next few days.”

“We are optimistic even if we are still only at the beginning.”

“I can’t reveal the details of the negotiations or talk about the other clubs who want him, but we are aware that we must firstly reach an agreement with Udinese and then the player.”

Stefano Antonelli, a transfer consultant at Udinese, confirmed that five clubs are interested in Sanchez.

“There are clubs who are doing everything to get hold of him – Barcelona, Manchester City, (Manchester) United and two Italian clubs (Juventus and Inter),” Antonelli told Sky Sport Italia.

“The offers have all come from these clubs. We don’t want to create a bidding war, but he is the big name on the transfer market at the moment and everyone wants him.”

“All the clubs we talked about have a chance of signing him, but right now my feeling is that he’s more likely to go abroad.”

“Barcelona’s very powerful push on to the scene has changed the scenario somewhat.”