Bayern Munich manager Carlo Ancelotti has said there was no chance of the club buying Alexis Sanchez this summer.

Arsenal’s Chilean forward, with a year left on his deal, has been linked with a variety of clubs over the summer.

There hasn’t been anything particularly concrete until this point, with none of the managers confirming their interest and no official bids being made according to the reliable David Ornstein.

Now Ancelotti has seemingly confirmed that Bayern were interested enough to inquire about the player, but that “there was no opportunity” for a transfer, “so we (Bayern) looked at other players“.

These quotes were tweeted out by Mattias Karén, who was attending the press conference on Tuesday morning, ahead of Arsenal’s friendly against the German club.

The words will come as some comfort to Arsenal fans, to hear the Gunners are standing firm on Alexis not being for sale, at least unless a very substantial offer comes in.

If the managers of the big English clubs could give similar answers, or Alexis himself could publicly commit his future, the Gunners could move on and focus on the season.

This is a good first step towards that.