Arsenal boss Wenger is happy about Ozil & Sanchez situation???

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has today claimed that the situation surrounding Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil is good for the club, describing it as ‘ideal’.

The Gunners duo have been linked with the exit door for over a season, with contract negotiations having broken down prior to the previous campaign.

The initial expectation was that we didn’t want to allow the pair to enter into the final 24 months of their contract, and be held to ransom over their futures, but we now appear willing to force them to play out their contracts. At least that is Wenger’s insinuation.

Wenger said: “Is it an issue? Not at all. It is an ideal situation. Everybody has to perform.

“In the future I think you will see that more and more, players going into the last year of their contract.

“Why? Because transfer fees being so high, even for normal players, nobody will want to pay the amount of money demanded, more and more players will go to the end of their contracts.

“I’m convinced in the next 10 years it will become usual.”

He added: “When you’re a football player you perform until the last day of your contract. Whether you have two or one years left it doesn’t change. You want to play and do well.

“Do you really think they sit in the dressing room and think: ‘Oh I have one year to go I will not play well today’.

“Where does that come from? When you are a football player you want to play well, what does that have to do with the length of your contract. It’s a bit amazing to me. So long as you work you do well.”

Pressed on whether he feared it meant too many of his players would be busy negotiating a move away, he said: “Even if it happens, it doesn’t matter.

“It’s normal. Nobody knows if Sanchez will not extend his contract with us as well here.

“The performance on the day doesn’t depend on the length of contract. If that was true we’d sign everybody for 20 years.

“One day he will go. We will all go. And Arsenal will go on.”

This saga has gone on too long now, and hopefully this will finally put to bed any belief that Alexis Sanchez is going to leave the club in the current window. He returns to training on Monday, and will hopefully be able to feature in the Community Shield next weekend.

Does this finally mean Alexis is staying this summer? Will Alexis and Ozil have to work harder this season, especially if they are pursuing a push to move clubs next summer?

Pat J

21 Comments

  1. What else can Wenger say? Sorry guys l screwed up by letting all these players go into final years of their contracts? Nah, he is too proud and stubborn for that. Of all the top teams in England, (Chelsea, City, United, Arsenal) only Arsenal finds it hard to pay the “crazy prizes” in the market but have the most expensive tickets in the country.

    1. Our tickets include besides 19 EPL games, the first 7 cup games and the two Emirates cup days. A grand total of 28 games. Divide 891 by 28 and you get 32 pounds a game. Next in list, Chelsea, charges 750 for 19 games which come around 39 pounds per game.
      Obviously, you won’t be able to buy a season ticket like this because the waiting list is so big that you’d be better of buying tickets as a non member (around 90 pounds/game) and chose your games carefully.

    2. I don’t think this is what he meant to say. Media twisting everything he said especially the sh.it sun

  2. No big clubs would offer a mega contract to a non performing prima donna especially when the player is approaching 30s.

  3. Next Summer Alexis, Ozil, Oxlade, Gibbs, Wilshere, Cazorla, Jenkinson and Macey will all be free if not sold or sign a new contract. That’s roughly £150 million +. A lot of money

    The contracts of players have not been handled well

    I think Ozil will sign a contract though. I don’t see another club paying him £250,000-£300,000 per week (unless maybe Chinese club or if Ozil has an amazing season)

  4. Maybe this is a sign of the future. You have to admit that transfer fees are becoming out of control. Player wages are also getting higher. Do you think in the future you will see players signing only 2-3 year contacts and then leave for higher wages at the end?

    The model also means you are not stuck with dead wood and players must continually play their best otherwise they may not find another club that wants them. It would also mean wages are fairer.

    This however is not a great position for arsenal because our best talent is all leaving next year and is valued so highly. Maybe it will be best in the longer term though.

    1. Well, we will let go, among others, Gibbs, Jenkinson, Wilshere, Debuchy, Macey. We work hard this year to offer lucrative contracts to Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ozil and Sanchez. What we will not do anymore is offering big contracts to mediocre players for an extended period of time.
      If the player did not signed a contract until January then he will not play anymore if his mind is not at the game as I, as a coach, am absolved giving playing time to an expensive signing.
      Also, may I remind you that a player can sign in January only for a foreign club, not an EPL one.

    2. Scott, Chelsea City and Manu put in very lucrative performance based deals on the contracts. And the only performance they rate is league winning. We put CL bonus’s into ours, at first it was normal or expected but I read last season that we still go with this type of performance based bonus. The players that are all asking for a certain high number, we should give in but make sure a huge part of it is attached to achieving. Say a league and a cup for the four year contract to be paid in full, if no silverware in four years well then you can hardly expect to get paid what champions are being paid.

  5. In North American sports, many players have “career” years in the final year of their contact. They become a free agent, sign for mega-bucks and then go back to being mediocre players. So yes, I think there is truth in what Wenger says as a player in his final year of a contract is often playing for a last big payday.

  6. Wenger may well have a point – we will have to wait and see

    But the reality is that £35-40m is neither here nor there. It doesn’t buy superstars anymore. If that player is the difference between CL or not then you make your money back and grow back in stature just by getting into the CL and letting the player go.

    I think letting him go for free will be painful but better than letting him go now. We have to be realistic and admit that we are not in the CL anymore and no where near challenging. Him for another year would give more time for the club to reorganise which is probably worth more than his transfer fee.

    1. he means when a play is in his final year,he plays to either atract good package or atract other clubs at the end the club will benefit interms maybe a trophy or good league position due to good performance for the player in question.then at the end of the year it will be for club to sign good players coz by will be in ecl or champions.

  7. You wouldn’t think Ozil was in the same situation when listening to him, he acts all – ya Gunners ya – but he is in a very similar situation. Now it sounds like Arsene expects Ozil to run his contract down too.

    Oxlade one is strange, any other season and we’d be all like, get that little s**t out of our club. But now, Oxlade has that power which our teams have lacked for eons, and now he has a positional awareness that tops one of the most highly rated/potentially fullbacks around.

    Alexis, you’d expect something like this from a Latin American (no offence) . And considering how he stands out in this team it’s no wonder he believes he’s too good for these players. It’s not the club he feels is not worthy, it’s the personnel.

    Wenger, you let the ball drop just, admit it. Very difficult to see the Oxlade one coming, maybe that’s why it happened. Because he had a contract to win, Arsene maybe made it that way purposely like the Theo lads one season. But we could have gotten Alexis signed one or two seasons into his contract, I don’t know that for sure but I know we didn’t make a push to try.

    Ozil one we dropped the ball, personally that wouldn’t bother me too much except for missing out on funds. But he’s rated highly at the Emirates, so Arsene did muck up. Any others winding down, I don’t foresee an issue.

    On the one hand, Arsene has a point, look at Oxlade and Walcott when they needed to earn a new pay day. Ozil and Alexis are allot bigger names than those two, so Arsene is clever at manipulation of facts. If we don’t see AFC in a scrap for top spot, am not sure people will forgive him so easily, if he gets some slack that is.

  8. This is just Wenger putting a positive spin on the Sanchez situation. It would be great seeing sanchez play for another season for us. Not so great seeing him then leave for free and not being replaced.

    I see comments like, losing £50m is worth it to keep sanchez. Our total gate receipts in a good year are about £88m. We have to buy players from our own resources.

    I think Wenger is just saying there is a fall back position and putting pressure on sanchez, the club will be looking to extend sanchez contract or sell. Kroenke is a business man letting Sanchez go for free in a years time is not good business to him.

  9. He (wenger) has a point in that players will have to (i) give their best on the field if they’re to deserve a chance to renew their contracts. Continue (ii) giving their best on the field so players under final year contracts ARE seen as good value for potential buyers. Afc will have considered the issue of contract renewal and maintaining players productivity on the field with more attention than many are giving the club credit for…The final year of any contract for services is “crucial”.

  10. We all at some point have all complained about our players lacking fight or passion in our games. That is what costs us big time, last season and so many others. Apart from Sanchez, all those players in the last year of contract, Ox, Ozil, Ramsay, Gibbs, don’t deserve one!

    Wenger makes a damn good point here actually. Players in the last year of their contracts have a hell of a lot to fight and play well for. Plus the world cup is next year. We have the power to play them or not and so we are in a good position in most ways here.

    If they wont play 100% for Arsenal, they will play 100% for their careers. In this time, we will save millions on lower contract wages and can plan for new players who will give 100% all the time and spend our money on them.

  11. I could not believe my ears after what I sat and watched Wenger say. After last seasons uncertainty, embarrassments and the following toxic atmosphere dragging the club down Wenger thinks it is ideal to have so many players on the last year of their contracts (including our best two). Can he not see that the major talk in the dressing room will be whether these players are going to be getting mega bucks signing for Man City, Chelsea or Utd. And he really thnks that the daily media speculation on where these players are going is not going to transmit to the pitch and the fans! Just as I was beginning to hope next season might be better we get this. We don’t get this at Man City, Chelsea or Utd, only Arsenal. Why is this? I know what I think.

  12. Can’t AW just stop talking, people have had enough of his rubbish already.
    I think the club need to be careful with the Ozil situation. No club is willing to pay a fee for him but I’m sure they’ll be many teams that would take him on a pre-contract. It could be that he’ll just go on a free as there hasn’t been too much progress over a new contract.

  13. I can not say if Arsenal did not offer contracts to the players mention in the article before, but i will say i doubt if contracts is Wengers duty, his comment on the contracts sounded appalling, but in truth the only person of most importance is Sanchez.

    My stance still remains he should be sold and as quick as possible and as that s being done, buy a suitable replacement

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