Manchester City have reportedly distanced themselves from a transfer for Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka this summer or in future windows.
A story from MailOnline published on Tuesday morning reported that Pep Guardiola's side were set to up the ante in their pursuit of Saka, although were unlikely to make an approach this summer. Liverpool have also been linked with a move for Arsenal's star man, leading the Gunners to accelerate plans to tie him down to a new contract.
Those initial talks were held at the end of last season and are set to intensify throughout the summer, with Mikel Arteta and co worried what could happen once he enters the final two years of the deal. They are eager for his new deal to reflect his prominence in the starting XI and offer him a new wage that fits that billing.
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City have long been reported to hold an interest in Saka. But football.london's sister website, The Manchester Evening News, have reported that the Premier League champions have distanced themselves from talk of a move, either in this transfer window or future ones.
Saka has enjoyed one of his finest seasons to date in professional football, playing a part in all of Arsenal's 38 Premier League games and helping them back into Europe with 11 goals and seven assists. With the World Cup taking place at the end of the year, he will be hoping to nail down a spot in Gareth Southgate's England squad too.
Speaking in May, Arteta addressed the possibility of losing his best players further down the line, telling a press conference: "Well what we want to do we want to improve the team, the squad and obviously we know that there's not a player that doesn't have a margin to improve or envolve in his way of playing and his career. So we want to retain our best players for sure and we're going to add into that more quality and depth to be more competitive."
