A number of first-team players at Arsenal reportedly want the club to sell Alexis Sanchez before Thursday's transfer deadline.

Sanchez's future has dominated much of Arsenal's transfer window, with the Chile international refusing to sign a new deal at the club despite having less than one year remaining on his current contract.

Manchester City have been strongly linked with the 28-year-old but saw an initial bid of £50m turned down this evening - although they are expected to return with an improved offer which could involve Raheem Sterling heading in the opposite direction.

Fans and pundits have expressed their belief that losing Sanchez so close to the end of the transfer window would leave Arsenal in a worse state than they are at the moment, but The Telegraph claims that a significant portion of the squad would support the move.

Arsenal players reportedly feel that the relentless speculation over Sanchez's future is having a detrimental effect on the squad, while they also believe that he has no desire to be at the club and has put himself ahead of the team for too long.

Those feelings are understood to have been heightened by Sanchez's performance during Sunday's 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Liverpool, when he made his first start of the season.