It seems that Arsenal and their main striking star Alexis Sanchez have reached a bit of an impasse.

The Chilean international reportedly wants to quit the Gunners, while the North London club want to tie the forward down to a longer term deal.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has went on the record to state that they won’t sell Sanchez this summer:

‘The decision has been made and we will stick to that. The decision is not to sell,’

Arsenal have previously sold off talent that have entered into the last year of their deals as they didn’t want to lose them on a free transfer during the next summer, most notably Robin van Persie. The Van Persie deal saw the Gunners receive a lot of stick as he went on to win the Premier League with his new side Manchester United.

Arsenal fans won’t want to see that happening again especially as they know Manchester City are extremely interested in their star.

With TV income revenues reaching an all time high, the Arsenal board don’t really need to worry about finances and can keep hold of Sanchez if Wenger believes that’s the best thing for the team.

Now I think holding Alexis to his contract and keeping at the Emirates for one final season could end up being a stroke of genius on Arsene’s part. As long as the Frenchman and his club’s hierarchy hold their nerve and don’t get lured into accepting offers in the upcoming weeks, especially if they can’t get a ready-made replacement in.

Getting a top calibre talent in to replace Sanchez could prove to be impossible this summer. The very best players want Champions League football and the Gunners can’t offer that this term. They will also cost at least £80m to £90m to get in the door. I doubt the Premier League club will get the same in for the Chilean this month.

By keeping the forward in the capital for one more year, Arsenal will have a player that will still need to prove his talents this season. See the thing is that to get the best wage and to keep the best clubs interested in his signature, Sanchez has to keep playing at his optimum level.

That should see him matching or even improving on his impressive twenty-four league goals and ten assists that he recorded last year.

Sanchez might feel aggrieved this month and he may have an injury for the rest of the August just so he doesn’t play before the end of the of the transfer window in the hope of forcing through a move. But if he’s still a Gooner come September then I don’t doubt he will give his all for the Arsenal fans and the jersey.

Once he’s back up to speed then I would fully expect to see Alexis Sanchez making an impact and Arsenal will hope that he can help them in a title challenge.

Next summer?

Well I’d imagine the twenty-eight year old will still want to leave the Emirates and he will be paid handsomely by one of his many suitors. Until then Sanchez will need to give his all at Arsenal to keep himself relevant because a year is a long time in football!

Posted on August 17th, 2017 by scott
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