Liverpool And Arsenal Dealt Blow In Chase for Barca Forward – Report

Liverpool and Arsenal have been dealt a blow in their pursuit of Alexis Sanchez, with reports in Italy claiming the forward's agent has held a meeting with Juventus over making a move to the club in the summer.

Sanchez left Udinese for Barcelona in 2011, but has suffered from limited game time with the Catalan giants since. To date this season, he has made just 14 starts in the league as Lionel Messi gets top billing in the forward position.

Arsenal have recently been connected with a possible move for the 24-year-old, who made a £22 million move to Barcelona despite interest from Manchester United.

Liverpool have also been linked with the star, who insists he's happy at his current club despite his lack of time on the pitch this season.

But now Gazzetto dello Sport claims that Juventus are closing in on a deal for Sanchez to move to the Italian outfit in the summer, hoping to wrap up a deal before Arsenal or Liverpool can start serious talks over a transfer to England.

Juventus are looking very likely to wrap up the title in the Serie A, but the side have suffered from a lack of firepower over the season, particularly after failing to land Robin van Persie last summer. The side instead got Nicklas Bendtner from Arsenal on a season-long loan, and the hitman has yet to score after making nine appearances for the club this season.

Attacking players will no doubt be high on Giuseppe Marotta's wishlist this summer, as will be for Arsenal and Liverpool as well, and Sanchez's agent Fernando Felicevich was today reportedly in Italy for talks with Juventus.

Felicevich was also in the country to talk about the future of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the Italian paper claims, with the striker looking for a move away from Paris Saint Germain.

After losing the Champions League quarter final 4-0 to Bayern Munich over two legs, Juventus will no doubt be desperate to build their squad over the summer.

And Sanchez's future is very much up in the air as the former Chile international considers his many options in preparation for the summer.