Udinese reject $49 million bid for Sanchez

Udinese have rejected a 35 million euro bid for star Chile winger Alexis Sanchez, club president Gino Pozzo revealed. Udinese face a fight to hold onto Sanchez despite having secured a place in next season's Champions League play-off round following Sunday's 0-0 draw against AC Milan. A lot of the club's success this season has been put down to attacking pair Sanchez and top-scorer Antonio Di Natale. And while at 33 club captain Di Natale is unlikely to go anywhere -- he turned down a move to giants Juventus last summer -- Sanchez is another matter. "For me Sanchez is worth as much as (Lionel) Messi but that's a personal valuation and not an objective one," said Pozzo. "It's hard to find other players of that level, you only find two or three like him in every generation. "We've received a 35 million euro bid which we've refused because I believe he's worth more than that." As well as Sanchez, Pozzo is trying to fend off interest in his Swiss midfielder Gokhan Inler. "Napoli are putting us under a lot of pressure for the Swiss, we'll talk again in two or three days."