Dennis Star
Before the weekend, Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger stated he wanted Alexis Sanchez to stay at the club – and that’s understandable considering he’s arguably the Gunners’ best player. But now most new bookmakers reckon Sanchez is more likely to leave Arsenal than stay. With the Chilean’s obvious desire to join leave now rather than wait until the summer, where do Arsenal go from here?
What does Sanchez give Arsenal?
There’s no doubt Sanchez is an excellent player. He has immense pace and power with or without the ball and possesses bags of energy. Arguably, Sanchez also stands out for his unwavering desire to win. Last season, the former-Barcelona forward scored 30 goals and bagged 19 assists across all competitions – so his value to Arsenal is enormous.
Economic factors
Wenger has come under fire for admitting that he treats Arsenal’s money like his own – and his refusal to spend big money on players over the years has also raised the ire of fans. Yet for someone so frugal, refusing to sell either Sanchez or fellow wantaway Mesut Ozil doesn’t seem to make financial sense. They could have sold him in the summer and used the money to buy someone who actually wants to play for them.
Wenger recently stated that it would cost the club at least £70 million to replace Sanchez - and considering the inflated state of the current market, this is probably true. With all of this in mind, Arsenal can either let Sanchez go for nothing in the summer, or they can cut their losses by selling him in January. But either way, they lose a great player who will be hard to replace.
Toxic attitude
Once a hero among the Arsenal faithful, Sanchez is now losing fans fast at the Emirates. Having made it clear that he will not sign a new contract, it can’t be great for morale in the dressing room either.
It’s telling that, during a recent match away against Crystal Palace, only four of his teammates – Ozil, Granit Xhaka, Shkodran Mustafi and Alexandre Lacazette celebrated with him.
This follows an alleged training ground bust-up with Laurent Koscielny back in March and a huge dressing-room row after the Gunners’ away win at Burnley in November 2017. The altercation was reportedly not physical, but involved his teammates questioning his attitude. Chief among their concerns is Sanchez’s tendency to spin his arms when things on the pitch go wrong.
A united dressing room is vital to success on the field. In Leicester City’s case, a great team atmosphere proved a driving force on their way to the Premier League title. In Arsenal’s case, a divided dressing is clearly causing problems.
Despite Wenger’s public claims that Sanchez remained focused on his football and on doing well for his current team, the cracks were definitely starting to show. For this reason, Arsenal might just be better off without Sanchez.
