Arsene Wenger says that there’s been no progress when it comes to Alexis Sanchez signing a new deal, and that he has made a decision to keep him at the club rather than cashing in because of what he can bring to the team in the new season.
It’s always a temptation, and sometimes a necessity, to accept transfer bids for players who are into the final year of their deals, and when it was put to the manager that his desire to keep him might see the Chilean walk away for nothing next summer, he seemed more than prepared to accept that.
“That’s a consequence of what I say, yes, unfortunately,” he said
“We have to make a choice between efficiency on the field and financial interest.
“Most of the time if you can find a good compromise it’s better but in this case I prioritise the fact he will be useful on the sporting side.”
On whether or not there had been any developments in terms of a new deal being agreed, Wenger continued, “At the moment no because we have not progressed on that front.
“At the moment he is a player who goes into final year of his contract and prepares for the season.
“We have not made any progress on the other front.”
It is an interesting and complicated one. On the one had it’s commendable that we were, at last, prioritising what we’ve got on the pitch over money, but if Alexis, Ox, Wilshere and Ozil leave for nothing we have a lot of rebuilding to do and less cash than we might have had to do it.
It seems inevitable that someone will go if the right bid comes in, but it seems clear that it won’t be Sanchez.
And seeing Sanchez laughing on the bench when his team loses is pure delight.
You do realise that whenever Arsenal loses this season it will reflect on Alexis’s CV too.
I’ve come to believe that everyone who thinks Alexis will behave unprofessionally and not give a 100% just because he is in his final year of his contract is just projecting the way they are most likely to behave in their own professional lives. Its unfathomable to them why people might actually live up to their committments from a sense of something as stupid as integrity and/or for the sake of the irrelevant matter of how it might reflect upon them in the future
Not overly enamoured with Sanchez but credit where it’s due, his conduct as a Professional footballer wanting out, has been exemplary. The sick note, via Instagram or whatever, followed by a stomach strain.
confused by this too. In North American sports, players always come down to the final year of their contract. The player will then have their best season because it’s a “contract year”. Alexis will be even better this season because it will help him financially and professionally in the long term.
I’m worried because Sanchez has already shown a penchant for a good strop, Ozil is not exactly mister mental strength, and the Ox is the only one who really needs to prove himself and earn the next contract. I expect Ozil and Sanchez to mainly play for themselves, which might win some games but won’t win trophies. They have already given up on Arsenal in their minds, that is a bad thing, no matter how Wenger tries to spin it. Sell them and move on. I don’t think the situation is at all comparable to contract years in the US,… Read more »
Have you ever played competitive sports? once he’s out there on the pitch in the EPL furnace he will fire up. Alexis will die for the cause. He’s a footballer. Pure and simple.
Hopefully he gives us 100%, if so I wouldn’t mind him leaving next year for free. Plenty of other players in this world. In two years everything is more than likely going to change at arsenal anyway so whatever will be will be.. Let’s smash the orcs on Saturday
Too bad Wenger didn’t leave, otherwise Sanchez would be more likely to stay. Doesn’t want to play under this has-been failure and who can blame him. Oh well, we’re stuck with the shit show now.
And you know that for a fact?
Of course he doesn’t
It’s thanks to Arsene we get people like him in the first place.
this
Please don’t feed the troll
Then Fuck off. Go support another shitier show somewhere else.
And you think he would have come without AW in charge? Look man, no one has won the PL in the last 2 decades without paying for it, except AW. And Leicester, the fuckers.
Who is this brave new Arsenal? Fingers crossed it all works out.
By ‘brave’ do you mean idiotic?
No, brave.
As in favoring the football side and aiming at winning things instead of looking at the bank account, which is incidentally something some have been moaning about for years.
Not that the gamble doesn’t make more financial sense on the long term if it pays off anyway, of course.
We’re not going to win the league with him in charge, so I can guarantee that it is a gamble that is not going to pay off.
Once that doesn’t happen and all of these players fuck off somewhere they might actually win the league we’re not only left without them but don’t have the money from their transfer fees to try to replace them. No amount of TV money is going to allow us to spend £50+ on every incoming player – if it did, teams without existing massive wealth would be doing so.
Says you, based on your prejudices.
And the gamble is on the return to Champions League football, which is ALREADY most of what we’d get for selling Sanchez in terms of revenue.
Losing out on CL because Sanchez strengthened a direct opponent however guarantees having to pay OVER the rates of an already crazy market.
Eh, city is going to blow us away this year, with or without Sanchez. If we could have sold him and had enough money to pry Lemar from Monoco I would prefer that.
Wenger In. Sanchez in. You can fuck right off Crash. Skid Solo more like. why are you crapping your pants after one game?
So you really think that this squad is being prepared to win something this year? And I mean something other than qualification to the Champions League? Arsenal finished 5th last year and they have bought one striker and one defender. This, in your opinion, is aiming to win things instead of looking at the bank account? Every single team around them, except Spurs, has invested more. The team needed a large scale rejuvenation and what it has got is 2 players. We have already seen what kind of buying power the club has this year with the Mbappe and Lemar… Read more »
I will. Fuck the CL.
I keep hearing about every team has invested more. We have added the leading scorer in France and the best left back in Germany. We have two players with exceptional ability, Xhaka and Mustafi, now with a year of Premier League experience. So four of our ten first-choice outfield players. I know we should have bought Neymar, Mbappe, and probably the hologram of the young Maradona, but we didn’t.
Umm Edinson Cavani was the top scorer in France last year. Didnt know when we signed him. Last time we signed the top scorer of the French league it was Olivier Giroud and as much as I like the guy he didn’t make us a contender for the league title. Mustafi is a great player, but he doesnt get into the German first XI. And there is a good case for if he actually complements Kos. The reason the point about investment is made is because we needed it. We had the worst season we have had in a long… Read more »
I should have been more precise: Lacazette has been the leading goalscorer in France over the past few years, though Cavani scored more last year and Ibrahimovic the year before.
I think you should look at Chelsea again; I don’t see two quality players at almost *any* position, let alone all. Who is their second striker? Who replaces Kante? Who will play for the suspended Cahill? And Cesc?
Same with Spurs. Same with Liverpool. The Manchester clubs approach this–but United had it last year and came sixth.
For the roles they play Chelsea absolutely does have like for like replacements. For the three central defenders that started last year they have brought in Rudiger who is at the same level. In central midfield they have bakayoko now who is at the same level as cesc and Kante. Willian and Pedro are again at a similar level. And batshuai is as good a backup striker as you can expect to have.
There is a real competition for places there.
Batshuayi! I think that proves my point. They have one (probably) good backup centre-half for three positions. They have sold Matic. Their manager’s head is about to explode. What are you talking about?
Batshuai isn’t the best backup striker you can have. Do you prefer Batshuai over Giroud ?
Rudiger and Bakayoko aren’t a the same level yet. Just like Xhaka and Mustafi they have to prove themselves. Batshuayi has done nothing so far to impress no one yet.
Chelsea? What? Are you in a timewarp from 2012ish? Right now Chelsea have like 14 first team players…
Why are you an Arsenal fan? No wonder you hate Arsenals squad right now. You think Chelsea and rest of the top 6 have 2 deep at every position? Except for ManC every club has a weakness.
The team needed nothing of the sort and we’ve just signed the best LB of the Bundesliga and a fantastic striker. It’s about quality, not quantity.
And, yes, your 2nd point is precisely why keeping Sanchez is by far the better option than selling him to Man City and not having him in the team to bring us back in CL spots.
So Chelsea adds 3 key players and lose 2. Thats going to be enough for PL and CL?
Liverpool adds maybe 1 key player and thats enough for both Prem and CL?
Only one that has done an a good job is Man city and they are favored for a reason. ManU I think did a solid job to but they still have to prove it since they were out of top 4 last season to. i agree about Spurs.
I don’t buy that we kept Sanchez because we wanted to win things. We have not been closer to winning league all these years and signing two players however good they are ain’t gonna change a damn thing because players were never the problem . and when board and Wenger says that is the case to Ne at least it sounds like load of bollocks. What is more plausible would be that board considers getting in champions league a more priority than money they will get selling Sanchez . one season in champions league alone will get earn more money… Read more »
We’ve won silverware 3 out the last 4 seasons.
Your second point is correct and a corollary of the decision to favour football results this season, yes.
Did Gazidis’ catalyst for change ‘change’ include training Arsene to put players in headlocks? Because I’m all for that.
Sport triumphs cash for once
All for keeping him and most likely letting him go for free if he gives ? which I’m sure he will. £50/60 mil we’d get for him is just pissing in the wind these days anyway.
The 60 mil we could get for him is the difference between being able to splash 60 mil and 120 mil on our next big star.
but……what if injured for months.we all gonna say we should have sold him
You take that risk with any player though
How much focus are the players going to have come January when they’ve signed for other teams? The circus of Arsene’s contract is over, got a few more months of this shit now.
In Sanchez we have a world class talent and we should keep him for as long as we can. In this hyper inflated market we are never going to be able to replace him so let’s enjoy him !!
FUCK THE MONEY.
He’s going to let him go for nothing next year ? He’s stated the same for the Ox. That’s 100 million Arsenal will lose in a year and nothing will change this season in the league. We still will struggle to make the top four. I bet the Yank will lovee that. But then again we will save 2 million when he will not sell Perez for less than he wants.
That’s the whole point, thanks to these players, we will get back in Champions League football, which pays off most of what we’d get for Sanchez. The money we’d get in the coming new kit deal also is incomparable whether or not we’ve returned to the CL.
There’s an element of gamble but the club should be commended for being ballsy and favouring football results over short term cash.
Also, having Sanchez playing against us in such a key season would be double the negative. That at least goes next Summer when we’re back were we belong league-wise.
What makes you think we are guaranteed to get back into Champions League next year?
There is no “guarantee” of anything of course but experience in doing just that for 2 decades, improvement of the squad and keeping such world class player make the odds as great as they can be.
When we don’t spend money it’s a problem. When we let our best players leave in the last year of their contract- it’s a problem (RVP saga). Now finally when the club are being brave enough in holding on to the best players at a risk of losing them for free in a year, some of the fans like yourself are calling this a problem!! What on earth is the club supposed to do? I for one am really happy with the stance the club has taken this time. We have prioritised finances over the sporting side during the austerity… Read more »
I think that is the fundamental problem the fans are angry with. Players who are of the level of Sanchez and/or Ozil should WANT to renew their contract immediately and not want to leave. Isn’t that what we always say? We are the Arsenal! The best players should want to play for us not want to leave. That’s the problem, in my opinion anyway. Not that Wenger is holding onto him and letting him go for a free, but the fact that we get into this situation in the first place is a massive indication as to where we stand… Read more »
Neymar just left Barcelona. Vidal left Juventus. Dani Alves left both. Three of the best players in the world, tradition-rich and extraordinarily successful clubs.
Yeah but we don’t have the money so what’s your point? If we were willing to meet the buyout clauses of players like Neymar? We aren’t. So they wouldn’t choose Arsenal over their current team because Arsenal won’t pay them what they want.
Vidal moved from the best team in Germany to the best team in Italy so that’s no comparison and Dani Alves did the same thing.
My point is that “the best players should want to play for us not want to leave” could be said, with much more justice, by Barca and Juve. The fact that players do in fact sometimes want to leave Arsenal, in itself, proves nothing about the quality or ambition of the club any more than it does about Barca and Juve.
Erm yes it does. The best players in the world choose to play for Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Juventus because they are the best. The only time any world class player has joined Arsenal in the last decade was because they weren’t wanted at their current club and we were the only ones in for them. Be a bit realistic.
So what do you think is the reason for Alexis wanting out? Sporting reasons? Stature of the club? Why do you think did he turn down a move to Bayern then?
I think Alexis wants out for all of the above reasons and for a bigger paycheck hence why Bayern turned him down (not the other way around – it was because of his wage demands) and why he will probably end up at PSG next year. Or City.
Players will want to leave a club whether supporters/club want them to or not.Case in point,Neymar leaving for PSG so your point is not necessarily correct.
And why do you think Neymar left for PSG? For money. Arsenal have neither money to afford the wages nor the glory, so the biggest players want out. Are you going to tell me I’m wrong?
I agree but we all had pause when we heard the allegedly amount the players wanted last summer ’16 was like 250,000. Obviously the wages are going up faster then we can as a fan base can comprehend and now 300-400,000 is a possibility. Landscape has changed
Nothing brave about failing for 18 months to resign your best players on new contacts. It amazes me how many of you are deluded & just swallow what Wenger & the Arsenal PR machine offer you. They have failed for nearly two years to resign their best players due in large part to us not competing in the league properly & being regularly humiliated in the champions league. Now people are saying ‘ I’m happy he’s staying for one more year’. You are happy that our two best players will walk away from the club next year, that we will… Read more »
I agree with you 100%. Well said.
So what ? We need ruthleness and makin a statment that we are going for the title this year. Did anyone know that Fergie let pogba contract run down on purpose because of his shit agent asking astronomical wages to extend pogas contract which piss fergie to not offer anything despite knowing the talnet of poga. And several years later man utd bought pogba back for 100mil which was their players in the first play just to get back winning trophies. Honestly i like this change from wenger he is stating that we will try with everythign to win the… Read more »
Whilst I can see the argument for cashing in.
The premier league clubs have all just had a huge windfall from the new TV money, so money will be available. Will it be enough to buy two world class players and two squad players? I’m not so sure especially as world class players will want a similar amount of wages that the current players are asking for…
Hopefully some youth prospect will come good to fill one of the spaces. Iwobi could be the one to fill ozil shoes. So that’s just two to fill lol
I am glad we are keeping him, but unfortunately this is going to be a season long distraction even more so than Wenger’s contract situation last year. My guess is Wenger will be doing everything he can this year to get us back into the CL and needs Sanchez and Ozil for that and is willing to risk losing both for nothing, but gaining the revenue and prestige of the CL next year to recruit players. He surely seems something in Iwobi and also likely Nielsen that gives him confidence that we’ll have players be able to step in next… Read more »
Better sell the Ox, get Series and we go for the title. Who knows, ten wins in 13 games might make Sanchez change his stance considering he is not getting younger
apart from all that: what bothers me most is that the season has already begun and we’re just talking about contract issues or transfers which won’t happen anyway. most of our competitors had their business done by july and can focus on the new campaign while we run the risk of wasting our efforts and concentration. this is some bad kind of déjà vu.
‘most of our competitors had their business done by july’
Only Manchester City have pretty much concluded their first team business. All the other top teams are in the same boat as us or worse.
Much worse in the case of Chelsea and Liverpool. How would you like to have Moreno as your first-choice left back?
Im happy we do this for one or two players (Alexis and Ozil), but Im pretty worried about doing this for four players…
I can’t understand fans that are critical of Wengers approach. Who cares if Stan kroenke makes 50m from selling Sanchez. We are loaded as a club so it’s not the difference between surviving or going under. It’s not even likely to be reinvested. If they sold to a uk club its in sterling and the strength of sterling means that it’s worth 75% of what it was 12 months ago. To replace sanchez by buying from the continent would be huge. I think Wenger and Arsenal are seeing how the tv deal that is up for renewal goes. They are… Read more »
Considering that the World Cup is next year I think Sanchez will be at his best so he could be in great shape in 2018
I agree. I don’t think keeping Alexis is a decision made from a sporting standpoint alone, I think it’s a strategic decision to protect our long term interests.
However, i’m very interested in finding out how we are going to deal with Ox and Wilshere.
Also, let’s not forget we have Joel Campbell on our wage bill.
Didn’t he say he wants to play in the champions league? He’s not going to do that this season for sure. This team, if everyone puts in his all, barring injuries, is capable of nailing down a CL spot by January!
That way, Alexis has his way: CL football next season…with Arsenal! COYG! Make it happen.
That’s the spirit! 🙂
I really like the stance we’re taking with Sanchez if for no other reason than we won’t be able to find a replacement. Ozil I still am hopeful resigns as I think Arsenal gives him far more freedom (and wages) than any other club would. I know a lot of people like the Ox but he has a really difficult agent (he hired Sterling’s agent and we all saw what disaster he was to deal with during the City transfer) and is a squad player. My concern is 2 fold 1. I don’t think we were only 2 players away… Read more »
That is all good but we should sign players to make up for the gap when he leaves for free. I still think signing Mahrez and a Cazorla replacement would make us stronger and would make up for Alexis leaving in the summer!
Mahrez is a moody one season wonder and am sure if AW was interested he would have signed him by now. Not good enough for us
He has shown hos capable of helping the team win the league. He would flourish at Arsenal IMO
Hilarious reading Wenger spouting this insincere bullshit. Le Prof and everybody else inside the club knows that these statements are purely provided for prospective buyers of Sanchez. What Wenger really means is, “We want to sell him, but only if the price is right.” Behind the scenes, both Man City and PSG have made bids for Alexis, but the club are holding out for the maximum they can get. Expect the transfer to finally go through on the last day of the window, when one side or the other blinks. And it’s worrying that Ozil, too, still hasn’t signed a… Read more »
I bet you love Trump
Because he isn’t a Wenger sycophant such as yourself? Grow up.
That’s why you are fat, gooner
There is one part of all this really really pisses me off. From Wenger and from the management, the impression is always that they have done everything perfectly while the players are holding them out for ransom. I have yet to come across a single instance of anyone from the club taking responsibility for the fact that they screwed up in a big effing way. These contracts should have been tied up way way back, when the agents have much less leverage. Shouldn’t the person who is responsible for this unholy mess be sacked? This is not a pro-Wenger or… Read more »
The issue is by all accounts Wenger is the one who historically has micromanaged everything – such as how much players get paid, how much we pay for a transfer etc. If Dick Law really has autonomy then he’s totally incompetent and should already be out the door b/c this is a complete mess – look at how many players we will need to replace next year. However it does seem likely from all reports that Wenger is the one who drives the process and has had a major role in letting everything get to this point.
The club’s attempts to get them to extend contracts started 2 years ago. They’ve repeatedly deferred on coming to any agreement. It’s a deliberate ploy. We can’t force them to sign a new deal, so our only choice is keep or sell.
One could legitimately ask the question though of why almost a 3rd of the first team has expiring contracts next year and whether had we made a higher initial offer to Ozil & Sanchez if we could have gotten them to sign up earlier. It smacks a little of the Walcott situation where he went into the last year and then we ended up paying through the nose. Compare that to spuds who routinely lock up their up and coming players to long term contracts and don’t have these types of issues.
Why: Because those players/their agents have chosen to run down their contracts. It’s possible offering more earlier would see them on slightly longer contracts now, it’s possible no matter how much we offered they would want more, but the offers were very generous as they were. A couple of things on Spurs: 1) the club and their players are much lower profile than Arsenal’s globally, and have achieved much less success. Their players are in general consequently less sought after and don’t have as many potential options available. If they stay in the Champions League a little longer that will… Read more »
Ok – then name another club in the top 5 who you view as comparable who has almost a 1/3 of their first team contracts expiring in a year and two major stars. the answer is no one else. and that goes for most of Europe as well.
Name another team on our level (i.e. not quite top top tier) which has two players with the global profile of Ozil and Sanchez.
But to answer your question, Manchester United have Blind, Shaw, Herrera, Fellaini, Mata all in their final year.
Put another way – we are the only club in the top 4 who has not really challenged for the title in a long time. So to answer that question there is no other club like us, as the rest of the traditional top 4 (Man U, City, Chelsea) have all won the PL multiple times the past decade. But if we believe we are a genuine challenger for the title then pretty much every other English club has players with the global profile of Sanchez and Ozil. IF you consider us to be a better version of Liverpool who… Read more »
Excellent point. +1 🙂
No idea who’s the culprit but we’ve just signed a Legal Guy whose apparently famed in the field for his expertise in contracts negotiations. At least, we’re clearly addressing the issue to reduce the risk of similar future situations.
Is he as good as that guy who we hired who was like a fitness expert and was going to help with our injury crises but ended up changing fuck all?
There has been massive improvements, what are you talking about…
We’ve now got one of the best system in place on the planet.
If you were expecting him to stop players getting injured, the person you were thinking about is called a wizard, not a fitness expert.
If we’re not going to strengthen our defence & midfield so we can challenge for the title what is the point of keeping hold of Alexis, Ozil & Ox just so we can finish 4th/5th & then have them leave for free next year?
He won’t spend £100m on a top quality DM & CB but he’s happy to lose over £100m when they leave for free next year. Wenger has lost the plot & sadly there’s no one at the club strong enough to challenge him about it.
Aside being more competitive in all the competitions we’re trying to win, the main point IS finishing in the CL spots again and secure the club’s future.
Financially as well with the new kit deal arriving fast and the club to be attractive for future signings as well as not having to pay over the value of an already overpriced market.
I think the whole issue hinges on PSG at the moment. Alexis wants to push them for a higher wage or price. BUT they have instead bought a slightly more expensive property (Neymar) They now have Neymar, Draxler, Di Maria all ble to operate from the same left flank. Do they need Alexis? Are they playing him up top in place of Cavanni who has been excellent? They may well wait to see if they really need the Chilean and if his expectations reduce. Thereby the only other option if City which is a NO GO for Wenger. Like the… Read more »
That said, there is no reason another team off shore won’t come in late in window, if so, a sale for Alexis will be considered. So nothing ink in stone till the window is finally shut.
Love how Arsène has stayed strong regarding Alexis. 🙂
If he’s not going to buy a DM & CB so we can challenge for the title what is the point of keeping Alexis? We won’t win the title with just him & we’ll finish 4th/5th whether we keep him or not.
We might aswell cash in on Alexis, Ozil & Ox if they won’t sign new contracts & accept that we’re going to be also rans in the league again.
that’s it. from now on we’re giving players 5-year contracts with the option of a 1- year extension.
Imagine in 9 months time Alexis going to city, Ox going to Chelski & Ozil going to wherever and us getting £0 for any of them to reinvest in the team.
We are not beating city or utd to the title this year even with these players so we might as well cash in & reinvest the money.
I would much rather us lose money having a fire sale to get rid of Gibbs, Jenkinson, Jack? Perez, Elneny, Coquelin, etc than lose Alexis, Ozil & Ox to rivals for free in 9 months time.
Annoying thing is if we’d shown some ambition & strengthened the defence & midfield we would have been title challengers & Alexis & Ozil might have decided to stay with us.
Despite all the promises of change Wenger’s unwillingness to compete in the transfer market continues to cost us.
We’re so overstocked in defense that we can’t sign new players in the squad before selling defense players…
We’ve got 5 performing CBs for starters, how many do you want?
I’ve said I would happily lose money having a fire sale to get rid of Gibbs, Jenkinson, debuchy & Gabriel rather than lose a fortune when Alexis, Ozil & Ox join our rivals next year for free.
This is a 3 dimensional situation. 1. The player clearly wants to leave the club. (Whether to earn more salary or to fulfill playing aspirations in UCL is other part). 2. The managewants him to stay and to sign a new deal if possible. 3. The board (even if Arsene says they support his decision) would love to cash in on a player who is going out for free next year. The solution to this is who sticks to their stance and who decides otherwise. Also noteworthy here is that what happens in the dressing room when a player who… Read more »
No one wants to lose these players but what I don’t want is them going to our rivals for free in 9 months time.
I don’t see us winning the league this year even if they stay & I think we can finish top 4 without them so if they won’t sign a new contract we should sell them & reinvest the money.
Agents aside, these guys are humans just like you and me. Albeit much more athletically gifted. Wenger calling his bluff may keep him. He is from a poor fishing village in Chile. To have the true ultimate faith from your manager in today’s climate has shown he has reached the pinnacle. I would not rule his signature out yet.
I think Wenger has earned the right to make this kind of decision. For years we’ve had to sit back and watch whilst we sold our best players because of our financial situation. This time, our income stream is not just reliant on the buying and selling of players. We get plenty from Puma, Emirates, etc. Plus massive TV money. Why should we, as fans, be too concerned if the club makes a loss financially from Sanchez? I’d much rather see him on the pitch this season. Next season, he goes, we buy someone else. Maybe after winning another trophy… Read more »