Arsene Wenger dismisses claims Alexis Sanchez is on the brink of leaving Arsenal for PSG

Arsene Wenger has denied latest reports suggest Alexis Sanchez is now poised to leave Arsenal to join Paris Saint-Germain.

Sanchez's future in north London remains in doubt with just one more year remaining on his contract at the Emirates. While it had appeared talk of a proposed move to Manchester City had died down, a report from the Guardian on Friday (21 July) suggested the 28-year-old is now poised to join French giants Paris Saint-Germain in order to fulfil his ambition of playing in the Champions League next season.

Sanchez, omitted from Arsenal's pre-season tour of Asia after his Confederations Cup campaign with Chile, was in Paris on Friday to meet with PSG sporting director Antero Henrique and the player's agent Fernando Felicevich, according to the report. PSG are reportedly ready to bid €50m (£44.8m) for the former Barcelona star.

Arsenal meanwhile have been in action in Beijing on Saturday where they suffered a 3-0 defeat to Chelsea in a pre-season friendly. After the match, questions over Sanchez's future inevitably came with Wenger dismissing the latest offerings as "media imagination," according to football.london.

PSG's proposed swoop for Sanchez is part of a remarkable effort from PSG to bring both him and Barcelona star Neymar to the Parc de Princes this summer. The French giants, dethroned by Monaco as Ligue 1 champions last season, are now prepared to meet the Brazilian's €222m (£199m) release clause in what would be the biggest transfer deal in history.

Barcelona have repeatedly insisted the Brazil international is not on the market, but should PSG activate the clause and open talks, they will be unable to prevent the move.

Speaking ahead of Barcelona's International Champions Cup match against Juventus, Ernesto Valverde was bombarded with questions over Neymar's future, but insisted he was not worried by what is going on off the pitch.

"This is a time of rumours, we understand that, but Neymar is with us and he is a player that we love a lot for his football and for what he brings to the dressing room," Valverde said. "I have not spoken with him about his future, we have talked about tactical questions."