Alexis Sanchez has already decided his next club, claims Bayern president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge

Bayern Munich president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has opened the doors for Alexis Sanchez's transfer to Manchester City after stating that the Bavarian club is out of the race for the Arsenal star. He added that Sanchez has already chosen his next club, with City the favourites to sign him for a free next summer.

The Premier League leaders, who take on the Gunners at the Etihad on Sunday (5 November), spent ostentatiously in the market last summer, laying out approximately £220m ($287.4m) on six new players. However, one key target that they failed to rope in was Sanchez, whose proposed £60m switch to Manchester dramatically collapsed at the 11th hour on deadline day after Arsenal failed to sign AS Monaco's Thomas Lemar as a replacement.

The league leaders are expected to revisit their interest either in January or at the end of the season, along with clubs across Europe's top leagues. However, Bayern have ruled themselves out of the equation.

"I think that Sanchez has already decided on a club [he's going to play for]. You can assume that this door will be closed in January. It (a potential Sanchez transfer in January) is a non-issue for us, and he's not a direct back-up for Lewandowski because he's not a proper centre-forward," Rummenigge said, as quoted by the Kicker.

Sanchez most recently featured in Arsenal's 2-1 win over Swansea City on 28 October, and has three goals and two assists in eight games in all competitions this season. The Chilean has a chance to show Pep Guardiola what he is missing with a notable performance against the league leaders, who are five points clear at the top.

The Gunners have already lost Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain this season on a deadline day deal to Liverpool and face the prospect of losing two of their best players at the end of the season, with Mesut Ozil also in the final year of his contract.