Alexis Sanchez could still play in the Champions League even if he features in the Europa League for Arsenal, meaning Manchester City will still be keen on the Chilean to boost their hopes of European glory this season.

That’s the startling revelation made by the Mirror, who went and dug out a passage from the UEFA rulebook to ease the concerns of Manchester City fans.

“Players may have played in qualifying for the UEFA Champions League or UEFA Europa League, but only one of them can have played in the UEFA Europa League group stage. Players cannot represent two clubs in the UEFA Champions League from the group stage onwards.”

Hence, if Arsenal require Alexis to play in the Europa League, they’re free to do so without complicating a potential transfer in January. All being well, the 28-year-old probably won’t even feature in the Europa League at all.

Arsene Wenger has already said that he plans to rotate during the competition and will back the depth of his squad against the likes of FC Koln, BATE Borisov and Red Star Belgrade.

The Chilean international wants to move to Manchester City to play in the Champions League, amongst other reasons. Should he move there in January, he’ll be able to play in the competition provided City qualify from their group.

I think tt’d be quite funny if City failed to qualify and ended up dropping down into the Europa League with Arsenal.