Despite being allegedly devastated that his move to Manchester City fell through, Alexis Sanchez now wants to join Real Madrid, according to reports.

Ok, then.

After spending all summer wanting to move to Manchester City so he can play under Pep Guardiola, Alexis now wants a move to Real Madrid so he can play for Zinedine Zidane.

That’s according to Don Balon, who have gone against the grain to stir up some transfer speculation. They also say he wants the move so badly that he will take a paycut – the only side he would do that for apparently. This is in direct contrast to the stories all summer which claimed he was demanding between £300k and £400k from a variety of clubs.

Between City and Madrid, Arsenal would certainly much rather him join Madrid.

However, given how close Alexis was to joining City and the effort City have made to sign him, it seems highly unlikely that he’ll be going back to Spain.

Alexis has made three appearances for Arsenal this season and scored his first goal of the campaign against Cologne on Thursday night.

Speculation about his future will doubtlessly continue throughout the season, but currently Arsenal are focussed on playing Chelsea on Sunday.

Arsene Wenger will have to decide if he wants to start Alexis at Stamford Bridge or to continue with the in-form Danny Welbeck.

As for this story, it all seems rather ridiculous.