Arsene Wenger insists that Arsenal will not sell Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez this summer.
Both the German and Chilean will be out of contract in just over a year and neither has put pen-to-paper on a new contract despite repeated offers from the Gunners.
While Wenger is adamant that he has no problem letting his star duo run down their contracts, he did suggest that securing high profile arrivals could change the situation but even then, only if the players really push to leave.
Here’s what the boss had to say about the duo when quizzed by beIN Sport...
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AW: This summer, first of all, they will stay at the club and hopefully we can extend their contract.
They are not going to leave?
AW: No. You know, you cannot weaken the club and weaken the team. We want to strengthen the team…unless you find a player of the same calibre and they absolutely want to leave. I believe that at the moment we are not on that front. We are just focused on keeping the team together and see how to strengthen the team.
What impact will it have if you hold onto those players [Alexis and Ozil] who maybe would like to leave?
I’m always surprised by that question because when you sign a contract somewhere you commit to give your best until the last day of the contract. I would say why should they not give their best. The interest of any footballer is to play football and well. Even more so when you’re at the end of your contract, your interest is always to give your best and if you’re a winner, to win the game.
So as far as you’re concerned keeping Ozil and Sanchez even until the end of their contracts is not a problem?
No.
He is saying everything we want to hear, but honestly what else can the bloke say?
Ahh, but it’ll be different this summer!
(we’ve said every summer for the past how many years?)
He bought Xhaka and Mustafi for over £60 just for the pair so it wasn’t the same. Plus he also bought Holding and Lucas so the claim of the same every summer doesn’the hold up
Premierleague clubs get more TV revenue so as much as in absolute figures it isn’t, proportionally compared to the other clubs it still is. Plus he started the season lacking players in key positions so I’m not sure you can give him much credit for last summer
True, Mustafi and Perez bought after first game.
Agreed, however he really doesn’t seem keen to play Lucas, which frankly I find rather bizzar. I believe there is some genuine talent there…But what do I know…Then again I didn’t buy him.
Why thumbs down when it is perfectly true. He scored 7 goals in 9 matches including a hat trick in the Champions League and had several assists. He always looked positive and it is a great pity he wasn’t given more chances
on top of all that he was soo healthy this past season. I think he only had like 0 injuries thats what makes it even weirder.
Wenger said he couldn’t give him game time because Welbeck is back. What is the injury consideration in this ?
I think you’ve missed a number before the 0. He’s probably been injured less than 10 times this season, probably only 2 or 3 times but missing nearly half the season… Add to this that in his first few games he only woke up in the last 3rd (Important, positive but not enough at this level), so it took him until christmas to get upto the speed of the PL. I hope he stays as I think he can make a real impact next season but this past season no manager would have played him more than maybe 5 games… Read more »
during the time Gabriel was given him words to defend more…
Rob Holding was frozen out of the team until he changed to three at the back.
It’s up to players also!!!Supporters wake up!
The problem isn’t his words but his actions. Their contracts should have been sorted ages ago. We are the only big club that handles renewals this badly
Oh yeah, like contracts get automatically extended at the wishes of the club. Both sides need to agree.
Of course both parties need to agree. But how many players have we got down to the last year of contract in the last 5-6 years. Pretty much all our best players and many others too.
Why is it that at other big clubs this doesn’t seem to happen. Forget RVP, Nasri, Alexis, Ozil even, the Ox for example, apparently they haven’t even sat down to negotiate seriously if reports are to be believed. Flamini left on a bosman. I don’t buy that we couldn’t even tie them down!
It is a systemic problem
That’s what happen if you want to pay cheap.
There’s been a contract waiting for their signature since last summer and the club will have been discussing it with their agents since then. What more can Dick Law and his team do?
Dont know what people are thumbing this down for. Renewal of contracts is handled in the most moronic way possible. Average and once in a blue moon performers are given undeservingly large fees while those who deserve big wages are underpaid in comparison to what they would get elsewhere and then expected to be happy and continue performing.
Only thing that bothers me is when he acts stupid and acts surprised why arsenal fans worry when their star players reach the end of their contract. He talks rubbish as if we’re supposed to be naive and expect our star players will at least run their contract down. As if we’ve never been burned before over and over again.
I’m a big time Arsene Wenger fan but if he doesn’t make big signings this summer and doesn’t keep BOTH Ozil and Sanchez then I don’t see how he can succeed next season or at least challenge for the title.
I beg to disagree. I may be a fool, but I genuinely believe him when he says that he is not selling them. If you think about it, it is logical. Say we get 50m+ for Sanchez: what player (in this crazy transfer market) can we replace Alexis with that will have the same impact? Not many, if any. Even if Alexis or Ozil are so unhappy at the club as most would like you to believe (I think the fish are being blown out of the water though) they would still be a better and safer bet to still… Read more »
Would love to believe you… let’s see if pigs can fly
Come on you Wenger? Not arsenal?
The only real way out of the situation may be to do what Liverpool did with Suarez, get Sanchez to sign a new deal with the provision that if we do not at the very least show we are serious and mount a real title challenge, he can go at the end of the year. I would also put in there the clause that he cannot go to any Premier League club but that may be pushing it a little.
Not a bad idea
I think the clause would have to be more concrete, like if we don’t make CL next year (plus maybe more, like top 3?) a release clause gets activated for a large but reasonable sum, say 45m. I’ve thought for a while that this might be the only way to get him to stay. I don’t think he’s desperate to leave so much as he doesn’t want to get stuck for 3-4 more years at a club that doesn’t match his ambition.
I think you’ll find that Suarez contract clause wasn’t about them being successful, it was about him being allowed to move to Spain where his Spanish wife desperately wanted to be…
Details. The point is Suarez DID sign the contract despite wanting to move. Whatever the clauses were, the player was happy enough to sign. All I am saying is we do something similar – I obviously do not know the ins and outs of what Sanchez wants exactly, but I am suggesting that clauses be put in place that gives both parties the best outcome. For us, it is not having to lose him on a free at the end of the season, and for Sanchez, I presume, it is to move to a more ambitious club where his efforts… Read more »
Arsene Wenger Is just heaping more pressure on himself. If these guys end up going on a free transfer to another Premier League club next year, we are going to look like a pack of absolute cunts.
He should just accept they want out and sell them. The reason why they want out is because we haven’t realistically challenged for any major trophies since they’ve been at Arsenal, they’re hitting the peak of their careers and they want to win things.
Not what I want to hear! I want to hear that they extend their contracts bc if they don’t: 1) we lose them and receive NOTHING next year AND 2) the huge risk of Sanchez or both going to a rival Premier League team. Does nobody remember us handing the title over to MU when we sold them RvP!?
Unless you want to wager a bet over a Mars Bar.:D
Even if we can’t get new deals on Sanchez and Ozil we should keep them and let them become Bosmans at season end. We can financial afford to do this so why shouldn’t we. Both will be 30 plus come 2019 and dare I say it, in decline. If you spread the amount in fees and wages over the period we have them then it still represents good value. Only if crazy offers came in should we sell. No 25 million for Van Persie bullshit , I’d value Sanchez at 65Mil and Ozil at 45Mil. On a free I’m fairly… Read more »
My biggest concern with letting them stay is them leaving on a bosman to another premier league side. If we sell, we can push them out of the country, by only accepting offers from the continent. if we keep them we have no control over their destinations
Those values seem low to me. Unless you’re saying that’s the normal value and we’d only take exceptional offers. If Mbappe is 100M or more then what does that make a proven top quality striker like Sanchez?
One answer to that is, whatever a player’s valuation, their transfer value is reduced with only have a year left on their contract.
A smart club strikes an understanding with the agent and waits a year. Or a couple of wealthy clubs start a bidding war and the price shoots back up. Until that happens, we face losing both players either below market value or for nothing at all next year.
Mbappe have a decade left in him. Sanchez is 28 already.
Mbappe is 18. Sanchez is nearly 29 with one year left on his contract. No way we’re getting more than 65m for him, especially if he pushes for the move.
We’ve heard this, right?
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2011/jul/12/arsenal-cesc-fabregas-samir-nasri-arsene-wenger
We did sign the greatest forehead in football that summer though. Give credit where it is due.
Don’t understand the thumbs down having read that Guardian piece.
I’m assuming the thumbs downs are because we are no longer in the same financial situation we were in 2011. Trying to pay off the stadium debt, having to sell a big player every summer. That ended 2-3 summers ago. Arsene has bought players for 30 million plus each of the last few windows. Laid out over 60 million on Xhaka and Musthafi last summer alone.
Spent all that money and still came 5th, 18 points behind the champions and spanked 10-2 in Europe.
So maybe the spending isn’t the problem.
Is there another top striker out there on the same level as Sanchez? I think Wenger will have to settle for potential. That’s where he does his best work anyway.
Where he used to, at any rate. not so convincing in the last 5 years or so.
Errm what about Rob Holding? I could probably name a player with potential for each of the last 5 years.
Wenger’s biggest mistake was letting go of his diamond superstar. The galactolian galactic galacto known as the The Big Dane
The taxis in North London draw a sigh of relief though. The ones who are still virgins and of good moral at least.
Can’t blame him really. Bendtner wanted to be at a massive club, and now he’s done it. Rosenborg Ballklubb. I still remember the feeling when we managed a 1-1 draw at their place in the 2004 CL group stage. Must have been the highlight of that year for Arsenal..
I think what will go down as Wenger’s biggest misjudgment will be his inability to sign Suarez when he had the chance. If we would have made that purchase; imo, we would have won the league and certainly would not find ourselves in the situation we’re now in.
I’m confused. You can only be talking about when he was at Ajax (and we couldn’t afford to buy him), as he’s never been available since then.
The trouble is when he says unless we find players of a similar calibre. Thats very subjective. He could sign what many fans may think inferior to say sanchez but arsene could insist the player signed is more than adequate. Sonogo,bentner to name but two both were lauded by wenger but the fans realised a lot quicker that neither were good enough. We wont keep both if they refuse to sign its just not the arsenal way and this statement could come back to bite him in the arse. And also saying if they absolutely want to leave then they… Read more »
Woah!! Please don’t use those two names in the same sentence.
A question for my fellow gunners: would you rather keep Oezil and Alexis for a year and see one/both go to Man City or Chelsea for free, or see them sold to Bayern / PSG this year? Thumbs up for foreign team this year, thumbs down for English team next year
I’d vote for you spelling “Ozil” correctly.
Then by all means spell it “Özil”. In the absence of the Ö the “Oe” acts as the correct replacement. Just saying.
Oooo that comeback #aha #yagunnersya #originalBurn
Actually ‘Oezil’ is correct, it’s the recognized way of expressing the German umlaut which is not available on an English keyboard.
Is it not a Turkish umlaut?
oop double post sry
Look at the big brain on Jack
I love this and the following criticism. Is it a Turkish or German umlaut, or both?
This is why I love this blog and, partially, this team.
I have no idea how to make an umlaut on my keyboard so I went for the standardised English spelling of umlauted German words that I was taught in my foreign languages degree, sorry mate
Is it not a Turkish umlaut?
Would calling you a “grammar nazi” be insult to injury in this german spell-off?
Dick
Or we put a clause in saying they can’t go to another premier league team
Or maybe signing authority. That way we can extend their contracts without them knowing.
I’ll sell sanchez if he really pushes it, along with Gibbs, Jack, Lucas, Joel and Szczesny. Debuchy, Jenkinson etc should free up some wages to and buy an elite striker may be even Mbappe and Isco if we have to let go of Sanchez.
I read somewhere today that Özil has indicated he will accept the current contract offer and sign shortly. Anyone know if there any truth to that or is it just internet clickbait? Clickbait which worked on me obviously!
For as great as he is it wouldn’t surprise me if there, as the reports claim, isn’t the interest in Özil from any of the big clubs. If none of them are interested he’s better off at Arsenal with at least the potential to win things. Plus a doubling of his salary which I doubt the Schalkes and Marseilles of this world couldn’t match even at the best of times.
I fucking love Özil and I hope he stays.
Me too! That’s why I got a little excited that it seemed like he might. Could still be wishful thinking (on my part) though …
It seems the story – about Özil being ready to sign – came originally from the Sun. For whatever that is worth …
Not much in that case although there is a pretty good chance he will stay
Well he would say that even if we are going to sell them. I’d be surprised if we let them run down their contracts and chuck away a pile of cash. Possible I suppose.
As long as we can secure comparable replacements I suppose letting them go would be ok. That’s the least we need to be doing if we are serious really isn’t it, although replacing them won’t be easy.
Hopefully we will sign more top class players and they will stay.
Hopefully we will get our business done early for a change.
Sanchez ia arguably our best and only world class player. We need to add to him not replace him. We were miles behing chelsea with him being our best player. We may sell him and buy a replacement and add another world class striker as thats whats needed, who knows but just a replacement leaves us no better off and probably worse as players like him are hard to find let alone finding 2
Mind blowingly frustrating the naivety of the club when it comes to contracts.. I dont think any footballer signs a contract expecting to follow it until the last day. We havent learnt from our past mistakes have we.
Wenger better get some great players in quick and win the league this season otherwise they will go for nothing and I don’t want to say it but one if not both will go to other clubs in the English league and rip us apart. For me it is better to sell them now and abroad so they don’t cause problems for us in the league. I hope Wenger knows what he is doing but it’s risky letting them run down their contracts. I don’t know what they would be worth but for me it’s better to sell now if… Read more »
If I was a professional footballer at the top of my game, and I wasn’t allowed for some reason to play for Arsenal, I would be reluctant to allow myself to be transferred. The dream would be 4 year contracts then walk out to a massive signing on fee elsewhere. Along with increased wages because there was no transfer fee.
Ozil is still best mates with Flamini y’know, I’m sure something rubbed off.
What??
You mean he’d go to Crystal Palace? If his ambitions aren’t higher than that I’d sell him in a flash merely for being a slacky cunt with not enough drive, vision or ambition to deserve a place in my team if I was Wenger.
He means Flamini always runs down his contracts to the end
Why do you have to use foul language? Isn’t your vocabulary good enough to find a proper word?
I’m assuming one of them may leave. Reports are that Ozil may have agreed to 280K. I mean, if we try to wait out on either, we will only have ourselves to blame. Honestly, we need to know their intentions ASAP. We can’t play any games and have to get a move on with signings. I think we will try and sell peripheral players as much as possible. This isn’t easy which is why I’ve always caution signing just anyone (which fans are all too eager to do) because if they don’t work out, there is BOTH impact to our… Read more »
What a load of shit.
ribbit.
*snore*
That last paragraph. For me, my question is why are we persisting with this similar wages for all approach when we could pay players wages that they deserve? So those who are on lower wages will work harder and earn their money. And as you said, it stops us from paying the Alexis kind of players the money they want.
I would not sell Elneny! You are also assuming these top players you name would come to Arsenal just if we ask them… it’s much more difficult than that especially as we cannot offer CL this year
I have to admit I laughed then cried for a bit at the idea of Wenger saying something like this ” There’s no way they are staying this summer, we’re selling both” He’s saying what we all wanna see, let’s see if they can carry it out.
The big question is “as far as you’re concerned”… He’s maybe speaking more for himself than the board/club
The big question is “as far as you’re concerned”… He’s maybe speaking more for himself than the board/club
Bullshit.
If sanchez wants to go let him go for the transfer fee and also for the fact that he does not join city or chelsea on a bosman next year. I think mahrez can be a good replacement for his position,no?
Yeah mahrez was not up to his title winning form this season but look at hazard last year and this year, plus a good team around him can be a factor, no?
Man the dissapointment of a crappy season rolls into dissappointment of losing your best player in the side, fun times for a gunners fan!
So two teenagers from league deux and theyre gone, then?
“You know, you cannot weaken the club and weaken the team. We want to strengthen the team…unless you find a player of the same calibre and they absolutely want to leave. I believe that at the moment we are not on that front. We are just focused on keeping the team together and see how to strengthen the team.” I see both carrot and stick in that sentence. Stick – If we get someone on par and you are that desperate then by all means fuck off. Carrot – We are looking at improving what we have and would like… Read more »
“…you cannot weaken the club and weaken the team.”
Instead, they plan to let them run out their contracts, move to richer Premier League teams on a free transfer and…weaken then team.
MAY OUT
JUNE IN
Now I am gonna do an emoji that looks like the face of the bass player from Haim.?
https://walcottt.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/haim6.jpg
So basically we keep them if we don’t get players of same quality, and we lose them if we do. Lose-lose situation.
reading comprehension problem?
“Strengthen the team”in context of adding players.
He said it twice.
That is in assumption we have Ozil and Alexis.
If they should want to leave, we must replace with equal + strengthen.
Understand?
Analysis problem? Read between the lines maybe? Well Wenger originally comes from a high context country so I guess what he says is too hard to get for someone like you who’s probably low context. (Google it before you think I just insulted your mom.)
What if the wind changes ?
Mbappe is going to be difficult. Too hot. Madrid purportedly in for him. Mahrez depends on whether he wants CL and if Barca are really serious. At some point money will talk (as in Pogba last season with United) regardless of CL or no CL. I suppose Bayern are in for Alexis if we don’t secure him but there is also Greizzman whom United seem to be passing bc of other priorities. Its not entirely dependent on us but I suspect we will take a more active role this season bearing in mind our circumstance and we should ahve good… Read more »
Reading most posts, people would rather keep them for a year then let them go free rather than sell them and get some money that is just a stupid idea.
We are a big club.
If the $$ make sense then why not prove a point?
100,000,000 for an 18 year old ?
Did you mean to put three extra zeros making it one hundred million?
Well, for years our club run as a business asset, it’s time to act like a football club.
Forget the investment, Sanchez our best player this season, keep him, sign another top player with those 100 Mill to strength the team and we can challenge next season with confidence.
Arsenal signing a player Aubameyang or Mpappe for that matter is like me sleeping with Rihanna.
I smell RVP, Fabregas, Nasri etc etc saga happening all over again…
There are plenty of good players out there that we could get with a £100 million just to name some are:
Rodriquez,Kessie,Carvhilo,Dembele, Marhez and Van Dijrk come on Wenger get on the phone or what ever to agents and get som signings in before the season starts don’t leave it like you normally do to the last minute and crap anything that is left.
As an American it’s strange that there aren’t more trades in football. In baseball and basketball you’d be looking to deal these players for a decent player and a couple of hot prospects. Why not so much here? Trade Alexis for Mbappe.
Salary caps…
Ozil will sign he has nowhere really to go no club on this planet will offer him 300kpw except maybe one in the EPL…but he as not been impressive when it matters….you don’t pay a player 300kpw because you want him to help you beat sunderland..you pay because you want him to help beat Bayern…in 4yrs he has probably pnly played well in about 4 or 5 big games and that is shameful… Sanchez has been playing for himself in the last 4months to engineer a move away..,he prefers to stay in the EPL…I hope he signs but I can… Read more »
Bayern seem increasingly confident that Sanchez will be joining them shortly.
Sanchez wants to win things and he will and have a better chance at Bayern than at Arsenal so can you blame him I can’t.
I said 17 the last day but now i want 30 more years
So if Wenger buys two “stars” this summer and refuses to trade Alexis and Ozil, wouldn’t it make sense for them to sign extensions? Your being forced to play in the Europa League anyway. If you win either the league or the Euro Cup your in Champions League the following year. Plus if you play out the last year and pick up a serious injury these players can kiss goodbye a huge new contract. Arsene needs to play poker and not blink.
Great news but Wenger needs to buy more players of high calibre
Wenger is right, keeping these two along with new signings will increase our chances of winning the league and/or getting CL football which, in turn, will make it easier to attract other quality players – I reckon if we won the league next season both players would be more inclined to stay!!!
As easy as peas.
I’m sure it will be up on arseblog soon enough but in the same interview, Wenger says he is only going to sign a max of 3 players this summer. So with the new free left back, we only have 2 more arriving maybe only 1.Zzzzz
The bottom line is that we wouldn’t be having this discussion if Arsenal hadn’t gone backwards in the last two seasons (I know, the FA Cup, blah, blah). This question is usually framed as Alexis and Ozil going to BIGGER CLUBS to COMPETE FOR THE TITLE. If we’d acted like a big team in the window when we only bought Čech, we may have been champions last year. If we hadn’t disintegrated around Christmas this year, we may have competed for the title. Instead of improving, we regress. If only there was one person responsible for all aspects of the… Read more »
“I have been criticised for not hiring Xabi Alonso or Gareth Barry. But if I signed them, I would have killed Song, Diaby and Denilson,” he said.
“I told the shareholders we have to trust this team. Everything is based on my own conviction,” he said.
“If in two years I don’t have any success, it will be my fault. It is a bet I made.”
Arsene Wenger 2009
How about getting them both to sign but with a clause. If the team doesn’t meet certain expectations next season, they can leave for a bigger club but if they meet a certain valuation.
Trimming the squad of fringe players and freeing up wages is key then add some quality. Promote some youth players who are ready and give them a chance to play in the Europa and Cup games push for the league title should be the aim. Chelsea did that with their big players last season they didn’t even play in Europe….so he will have to convince his star players.
At least no player is bigger than the club!