The contractual situations of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil remain unclear in some ways, but it what is obvious is that Arsenal have been unable to convince their two biggest stars to commit their futures to the club.
Sanchez would have been allowed leave if the signing of Thomas Lemar had been completed close to the end of the window, and despite positive comments from Mesut Ozil’s agent yesterday, Arsene Wenger played those down at his press conference on Thursday.
“I always said that the fact we didn’t find an agreement last year doesn’t mean that the player will necessarily leave,” he said.
“Both players [Ozil and Alexis] look happy here and overall, I hope that the situation can be turned around.”
If that’s the club’s priority though, there are clearly other options, one of which is moving one or both of them on in the January window to help fund new arrivals.
And Wenger admitted it was a scenario that is on the agenda. He denied that any deadline had been put on talks, but when asked if they might consider selling before June, he said, “Once you are in our kind of situation, you envisage any solution.
“Yes, it’s possible.”
Of course it doesn’t just depend on Arsenal. The players themselves would likely be more willing to wait until June to get that delicious, lucrative Bosman deal, but it does raise an interesting possibility.
Everything is possible, he can’t deny it. He’ll just try to do the best for the club.
I tell you what else could be used to fund new transfers. All the money we have in the bank. Just a thought.
Bit radical that
I haven’t watched the interview, but to me, this does sound a little bit like Arsene feeding a bit of intent to both players agents publicly i.e. yes, we will look to sell if you don’t re-sign with us – because he so could’ve easily said no to that question, or batted it away somehow. So I find it interesting that he’s has actually said that. I think if we do get a decent offer come in for Ozil or Sanchez in January from a foreign club, I think ultimately we have to look to do business. We’ve held our… Read more »
” We will look like the biggest mugs in the history of the Premier League if our top players leave us once again to go and play for our rivals.”
Funny enough, one of the most common arguments for not selling them this summer and seeing out their contracts was the whole “we can’t sell anymore top players, we’ll look like the biggest mugs in PL history if we do that again”-thing.
Yeah you know what we could have done? Showed some ambition and signed a stronger supporting cast with that buckload of cash we have before we even got close to have a year left on their contracts. But this is Arsenal. Why would we do that when clearly our ambition revolves around making tonnes of money for old white men
#SilentStanTheDestroyer
@Dave M
Spot on – I genuinely do not understand how people can thumb that down.
No there was no common argument for keeping either player. S this was always going to happen. It was inevitable. If you don’t sign a new deal when you’re coming into the final year of your current contract, you get sold. That is literally what happens at every single other club in world football apart from ours And for the record. I was all for selling them the summer window just gone. Selling them abroad to foreign clubs. As a prime example PSG were sniffing around Alexis before that shambles of a decision to sell him on deadline day with… Read more »
And Schalke (see Kolasinac)…lol
@Dave M
Lol – true, but then lets not forget that because we were a foreign club, we started the contract negotiations at Christmas time, so I’m sure Schalke weren’t opposed to letting him go on a free abroad – obviously not idea, as they still dont get any money for him, but I am sure had it of been Munich or Dortmund it would’ve been different.
So I suspect that will be the only way that Ozil + Alexis both stay this window, on the basis that they sign pre-contracts with foreign clubs at Christmas time.
Don’t think I’ve agreed more with anything arsenal related in a long time. Hit the nail on the head with Mesut Özil.. still baffles me that Wenger expects him to do his defensive duties. Just get the players behind him to pick up the slack, and with Lacazette up top and Özil loitering in the middle, we’d be devastating on the counter. Sellimg them in January would be a mistake unless were offered over £40m for each, but both players will probably be reluctant to go for any deal anyway cus of the big summer payday. As we’re down this… Read more »
Wenger has NEVER put Mesut is a position that could see him giving his very best. Why? Because Wenger’s always been obsessed by his home made players: Wilshere, Ox and Ramsey. These MUST be on the pitch no matter what, build the team round and blablabla no matter if they are good enough for this honor. The rest can wait.
trade Sanchez to PSG for Draxler or Lucas Moira. Problem solved 🙂
Trade Ozil to West Brom for Johnny Evans.
I agree on everything you have said. My fear though would be they just hold tight and refuse to move on in January.
I think if the results are going our way then we’ll be holding all the cards. Why? Because the story will be ‘Arsenal are successful without Alexis and Ozil and so they are not needed here’. Moreover, if we are top of the league come Jan and they don’t sign the contract we can ruin their careers by freezing them out of the squad. Ozil especially should be worried as he has a WC coming up. My feeling is Ozil will sign along with Ramsey and Welbeck. Not sure about Alexis. He is very unpredictable. At this point, i’d love… Read more »
I know there is an assumption that Ozil and Sanchez would like to hold out until summer to get the massive signing on fee associated with a Bosman. But imagine this scenario; by January (cough) we are firmly out of the title race. The Manchester clubs are pulling away from the pack and city with some injuries (and bazillions of oodle) and united desperate to seize the opportunity to get back in the big time come knocking on our door wanting in Sanchez and Ozil. Do you think either player wouldnt jump at the chance to compete for the title… Read more »
No, he will do what HE thinks is best for the club. That doesn’t necessarily mean that what he does is best for the club.
Best case scenario at this point is keeping Ozil, selling Sanchez in January and replacing with player such as Lemar, Draxler etc.
Strike that. Reverse it. Get Lemar. Keep Sanchez. Sell Özil.
I wish it was that easy
There were rumors PSG are willing to get rid of Cavani (turning 31 next year) to replace him with Sanchez (turning 29 in a couple months). Given that PSG are really playing with fire in terms of financial fair play (haha), a free transfer (plus the money for Cavani sale) would be a tremendous boost. Enter Man City. If Guardiola is really that excited to get Alexis, he might be tempted to get him in January, thus strengthening his hand for the title challenge and beating the French to the Chilean early. Only thing is, I don’t know which option… Read more »
etc?
Why not aim for more. Lets add Dybala, Goretzka, Alaba, Werner, Lemar, Messi, Ascenio, Isco etc
So they’re both off to the manchester clubs then… that’ll be just great.
Can’t wait for Ozil to be deemed world class by the media when he joins united
Such a joke
Ozil has been named German player of the year for 5 of the past 6 years so anyone who says he’s not world class now is totally ignorant. Is still the most creative player in England
Yes undoubtedly, but the British media (and some fuck-wit ‘fans’) won’t acknowledge that until he’s playing for a different club.
Most creative and weak as piss.
We spent most part of last season talking about these two players instead of talking about actual football. In my head, they are no longer Arsenal players. We need need to focus on supporting the players that are committed to playing for us. These guys are really distracting us and the team from our priorities. Wenger should please stop answering questions about Ozil and Sanchez in respect to their contract situations.
What a mess
If this scenario cones true, I rally can’t see why it was our best option to sell them on January instead of summer. We could have have more money on summer and we had more time to find replacements and ease them with the preseason training…
i think it was clear from the last season that both of these players wanted to leave . and in summer ox also want to leave the club . so that is three very influential players leaving in one transfer window .if that would’ve happened there would have been a riot in the stadium . arsene being a clever diplomat just didint want that , so he only sold ox and decided to keep the rest two making the whole fans beleive it was part of some kind of ambition or stuff.
I would rather have Alexis and Ozil for 6 months rather than some extra millions on Kroenkes’ bank account.
If the club had been in the same position 15 years ago the fans wouldn’t have been in meltdown because they had faith in Arsene to find another way around it. Now there are too many people that don’t believe in his ability to do so. Arsene was scared about the backlash from selling the ‘big two’ within the PL, so held on to them because he thought that’s what fans wanted. In truth, that is what the majority of fans wanted. Now, lots of people seem to have changed their tune. The best thing to do was to sell… Read more »
There would have been no riot if they had been sold and properly replaced in good time
It juts never mad any sense to let two players like this run down their contracts. At the end of the year you have two fewer players and no transfer fee to cushion the purchase of replacements. By any estimation that is just not a business model anyone outside of Stalin’s Russia would think makes sense.
I feel the appropriate reply to this is:
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Sell! They’ve been given every opportunity to remain, but have chosen not to -which is their prerogative. Sell!
However, with the possibility of both getting big juicy signing-on fees as free agents this summer, why leave in January?
Ozil has a World Cup place to keep fit for, so a Jan move might be beneficial to him if (in the unlikely event) he becomes marginalised. He’s also not Champions League cup tied. Sanchez on the other hand has no has no World Cup, but who knows what goes on in his crazy dog filled head.
We tried to sell Sanchez last minute and would have probably flogged Ozil too if any serious offers came in for him. So I wouldn’t be surprised if they were sold in January at all. Talk of signing new contracts with us at this stage just seems like nonsense to me, what could have changed that would make them sign now but not a year ago?
Sell Ozil, keep Sanchez till the summer. Sanchez’s cannot be bought in January, his wage demands would drive down any asking fee. Ozil on the other hand, though astronomical, may be sold at a price. Then we simply need to buy a replacement. Not like for like, but a leading name in world football – if it has to be youth then so be it.
Slightly off topic but I would like to see Pulisic come to North London. Kid is a baller and doing the business for Dortmund.
With a name that includes ‘Pulis’ he’ll need to be exceptional to join us… 😀
I thought in January they were free to sign ‘pre-contract agreements’ with other clubs (FIFA knowledge right there I’ll admit). If this is the case though then why would any club pay us money when they could guarantee them for next season for free?
To get them from January – May.
And domestic clubs run the risk of losing their targets in the summer to foreign clubs. Do the two Manchester clubs will come in for both our stars.
If you believe everything you read Sanchez apparently had his heart set on joining citea in the summer, if that is still the case why would the come in for him in January, they are plodding along without him at the moment and it would suit all parties (apart from Arsenal) to leave it till next summer, Sanchez gets a huge signing on fee, city get a big name signing for free thus complying with the ludicrous ffp regulations and can afford to pay him the kind of wages that will blow everyone else out of the water. Wonderful, just… Read more »
Just swap them for a Twix and a bag of those pink prawn gummies, and let’s move on with our lives.
Well seeing that Martial wants to leave Manure (at least that’s what it seems like) Maybe we can offer a trade? Opinions?
A French wunderkind who hasn’t fulfilled his initial promise?
Sounds like a Wenger signing, I’ll give you that.
I mean it doesnt help that he’s always benched.
Yep. It raises the possibility that our transfer policy and player retention isn’t just pathetic, it’s super douchebag pathetic.
Can’t wait for another game. This speculation is so fucking boring.
Total farce. Should both have been sold this summer
I don’t think we should be waiting on them anymore. IF a reasonable enough offer comes in (from offshore say PSG or INTER), sell. Pastore is a decent enough option for Ozil in similar position and likely willing to consider offers. He can also role for deeper in midfield with his long range passing and close control. Draxler is another possibility from PSG. Or Mahrez who won’t be cup tied. Wenger waited on Ox too long. I think when Gnabry was itching for first team action, Wenger and company should have forced the Ox to commit then or promote the… Read more »