Sanchez has decided to leave – so what is Arsenal’s best option?

COMING TO TERMS WITH THE INEVITABLE DEPARTURE OF ALEXIS SANCHEZ by Uche

Listening to Arsenal fans debate the way we should handle Alexis Sanchez’s reluctance to renew his contract, one would think that we are the only factors that will determine his future. Unfortunately, we are one of only two main factors. The other key factor is the player himself. Let me ask you a question. When your beautiful wife hands you divorce papers explaining that she has her heart set on marrying a more ambitious man whom she finds more appealing, what exactly are your options? That is a difficult one isn’t it? You can refuse to sign the documents but in doing so, you are only prolonging the inevitable. Even if she continues to share a bed with you, deep down, you know that she is gone and is possibly having an affair already. You see, you cannot force someone to love you and if you have never been in a relationship where the person you love does not love you back, believe me, you are better off single.

From all indications, Alexis Sanchez has his heart set on pursuing his footballing ambitions elsewhere. If his intentions were vague before, he just clarified it in his recent response to questions by reporters in his home country during a charity event. He says he wants to play champions league football and win it. Now analyze that statement carefully and you will understand how difficult it will be for us to keep this guy. First, we are not playing champions league football and even if we qualify by the end of next season, we don’t have what it takes to win it. So on those two counts, he has masterfully eliminated Arsenal from the equation. Now if it is also true that he is demanding 400,000 pounds a week when the best players in the world like Messi and Ronaldo don’t even earn up to that, that is a further third hurdle he has set for us to ensure that we don’t stand a chance of keeping him.

And there is more. Not only does Sanchez not want to play for us anymore, he is bent on moving to our rivals Manchester City. For that reason alone, there is a meanness to his desire to leave that tells me it is best we get rid of him, restructure our team and move on. John Terry dropped down to the championship and signed for Aston Villa just so that he never ever gets to play against Chelsea, the club of his life. That is love folks. The way Sanchez feels about us is the complete opposite. From the news out there, we have offered him as much as 300,000 pounds a week to renew his contract and he still wants out. As far as I know, nobody in the EPL earns that kind of money. So you cannot blame Arsenal for not trying. As it stands, here are our options:

1. We keep him against his will until his contract expires in 2018. At first, this seems like the best idea because we finally get to hold our heads high as a big club and claim that we stopped a big player from dragging us around. Unfortunately, in doing so, we are only postponing the inevitable. If he does not renew his contract, by January of 2018, he is legally permitted to sign for any club of his choice on a free transfer and trust me, he will sign for an EPL rival. The news of this alone is enough to wreck the new season yet again. In keeping him against his will, we also risk being inflicted with his temper tantrums. He has already given us a preview of how destabilizing he can be with last season’s drama. We need to read the writing on the wall. His stay at Arsenal has come to an end.

2. Option two is to sell him to a team outside the Premier league and replace him with Thomas Lemar, whom I understand is an Arsenal player already and will only be announced as soon as Monaco finds his replacement. We may be able to get as much as 50 million pounds for Sanchez in this scenario and this seems to be the best of the bad choices we are left with.

3. Sell him to his preferred Manchester City and squeeze them for every dime we can get while possibly demanding Sergio Aguero as part of the deal. There will be no pleasing Arsenal fans in this scenario because we don’t want to sell him to a rival especially with what happened in the case of Robin Van Persie and the fact that we have dropped out of the Champions league.

Personally, I will take option two. It is the best of the bad options. Make no mistake about it, Alexis Sanchez is a ticking time bomb. He does not love Arsenal the way you and I do and you cannot force that kind of love. We have thrown money at him and said all the right things and he still wants out. We have signed two top players with more on the way and he still wants out. Sanchez is just an Arsenal employee who is here today and will be gone tomorrow. We on the other hand are lifelong fans who aren’t going anywhere. Sanchez has played his last game for Arsenal as a willing participant. His heart is no longer with us. We have to let him go. We may never find a player like him again but perhaps we don’t need to. With a front three of Lemar, Ozil and Lacazzette and with Xhaka and Ramsey behind them, we can restructure our game and goal sharing responsibilities and move on. As good as Alexis was last season, we finished in fifth position. Arsenal will survive without him. We need to let him go and support the players we have.

Peace.

Uche Edochie
Lagos – Nigeria

38 Comments

  1. I have also shared here many times, you can not hold onto someone that doesn’t want to be with you! Period.

    We need to manage his disposal not to affect us many months down the road and ensure that we are well positioned to compete next term and life goes on.

    1. I remember saying here weeks back that if Arsenal were serious we should’ve known his stance long ago.If that had hapoened we would’ve known how to go about things.We have to act fast in this transfer window before teams increase their prices for their players as the closure date of the window draws nearer.People will say it’s early but of course we’ve heard that before.We will just regret delaying about what we should with him.Wenger will take the blame again for all of this.There are many wingers who might not be as good as him yet but some have his talent or are more talented.Those are the players we should be aiming for.

  2. Alexis for Aguero would be awesome
    We would swap world class for world class and not strengthen them that much

    1. Yeah, tell that to Wenger because Chelsea are in talks for Aguero right now! ?

        1. No, he just thinks like one of the most successful managers in PL history. But, sure, you probably know better.

      1. Alexis for Aguero wud b awsome!! Lemar is a good replacement as well as Mahrez.
        But i want to replace Giroud with Aubameyang.if BVB are indeed looking for Giroud.and We also need a CB having conceded so many goals last term.and may b a Santi replacment.
        Options Aguero Auba lemar mahrez.

    2. The earlier we eject him, the better.. Before he came, we were Arsenal and we shall remain the pride of London. But its unfortunate that people will not learn from the mistakes of RVP, Hleb and the rest.. #WeAreArsenal #COYG

    3. It would be an irrelevant swap.Why then did Arsenal sign Lacazette.I don’t want Lacazette to share.We need him to be the main man.I want him to be given the same chances as those who failed in the CF role.I don’t see a swap happening but the best swap with Man City is Kevin De Bruyne.He’s the one that is really impacting the team.We could really do with him on the wing if Sanchez leaves to City.

      1. Nope….if arsenal would play a 3-4-1-2 system, aguero and lacazette would strike. Ozil behind them both, lemar on lwb, mahrez on rwb, xhaka and coquelin in the middle, koscielny, mustafi and holding in defence. Title challenging team

    4. Lemar has no Sanchez quality, I agree with Aguero but could not happen Man City won’t give us. So for I suggest we hold him to his contract, he will definitely perform and if the results will be in our favor he will be happy and he may need to extend his contracts along the way.

  3. I agree with that you can’t keep a player who doesn’t want to play for you anymore so cut your losses and sell him, and bring in either lemar or mahrez to compensate for him or both

  4. Personally I’d sell him before he contaminates the rest of the sqaud with his discontent. If we are going to sell to Man City, they must give us Aguero or De Bruyne. The same with Chelsea – a swap for Kurt Zouma + Willian + Pedro . I would love Arsenal to replace Sanchez with Isco from Real Madrid ( he would give Ozil proper competition) or Mirralem Pjanic from Juventis. Neither are wingers yet both would be incredible at picking open stubborn defences . Isco in my opinion will be a premiere league superstar in a short while, hopefully it will be whilst playing for Arsenal

  5. At the end of the day, who cares if he goes to a rival. Arsenal didn’t win the league with him and nor did Man City with all the stars they had. Let him cause dramas there if he wants. Arsenal only needs a bullet proof defense to challenge for the title, the attacking side is more or less covered.

    1. I agree . Add steel to the defence regardless of price by buying Virgil van Diyk and in CDM – Geoffrey Kondogbia or William Caval or Marco Verratti

    2. I agree with you 100%. Van Persie did not win the EPL for Man Uted. Man. Utd won because Van Persie made the team stronger. Sanchez will conterminate Man City and weaken the team. I do not care if he wants to go to Man City as long as we get 80 million. Add 20 r 30 million to that money and go get Kylian Mbape. Period.

  6. Lets accept it, Alexis-Aguero wont happen, and Lacazette deal shows we dont need Aguero, we need a top winger and Lemar is that winger. Option 3 is no-go for me. I think Inter Milan and AC Milan are worth a try to offer Alexis top wages and pay 50m for him. AC Milan has enough invested to challenge for Seria A this year, and they are searching for an attacker to replace Bacca. The sooner we realize the risk of keeping Alexis, and move on, the better. Lemar brings goals and assists, and is young, will come at a lower salary, leaves us with enough in the bank for more investment

    1. Btw, Inter bought Borja Valero, so they have stacked on DMs, may be we can get Kondogbia!
      AC Milan planning for Morata/Auba, I am not sure if they get any of them, Alexis can get us Locatelli

  7. Arsene Wenger is to blame. He should have strengthem the team long time ago. We should have gotten a deadly striker two season agao. A DM and a good goal keeper a season ago.

  8. Selling him abroad this season to me will be one of Wenger’s best and most brave decisions ever.He’ll get my respect tor that.Who says we can’t win the league with another player in his position?Have faith for all is not lost.The Van Persie case ws very different since at that time we were not financially strong and couldn’t replace having to settle for second rate players except Cazorla at that time.In this case we can actually replace him.I can still see Arsenal getting Lemar because we still have a lot of money for transfers.If we can’t get Lemar we should try other options for there’s always better.

  9. No, there is a 4th option, funny you didn’t mention it.
    And that is that Arsenal buy enough quality to challenge for the title.
    Not little bits here and there, but a serious challenge with serious money.
    Otherwise why should he stay ?
    Arsenal are intellectual and failures, and that’s how they like it.
    One Lacazette means not that much in truth.

    1. Really, and that demanding of 400K a week? What’s that mean? 300K is the biggest fair wage that he can get, but he still turned it down was he? It’s not about money anymore. Crystal clear for me, none of our action left will pursue him. Arsene should not wasting our time “Waiting for Godot” anymore. Buy Lemar with Alexis selling profit and strengthen our defensive line. Alexis as rival? Not for the first time, no problem.

  10. Make his departure contingent upon a massive transfer fee and and solid replacement.

    (If Scott Walker is worth 45-50 mil, Alexsis must be worth more than 60 mil). Take the money an buy a good replacement.

    It is not a perfect plan, but it my be the best option available if Alexsis is truly serious about leaving.

    The strange thing is….. Wenger normally does not try to keep want away players. I wonder what Wenger is thinking about this one.

    1. You mean Kyle Walker? Yes, ManShit are throwing money in every directions and they don’t even made second look. I say we can sell Alexis about 65-70 M pound. Of course ManShit can grab him for free when his contract ran out, but I don’t think their board will please Guardiola for doing it. First year without any trophy? Guardiola must do anything necessary to avoid sacking. If he has unlimited money to spend then why he doesn’t?

  11. Would prefer option 2, apparently PSG are in for Alexis. Could sell him and buy Lemar or buy Lemar anyways and get a player plus cash in return for Sanchez.
    I wouldn’t mind Lucas Moura/Serge Aurier and cash (Verratti/Draxler would be great ideal but they wouldn’t want to move to Arsenal).
    OT- if Giroud and Perez leave then we should sign another striker as Welbeck is injury prone. I think Patrick Schick would be perfect, he reminds me of Van Persie. His move to Juve has dragged on due to an apparent medical issue, but it may be worth the risk.

  12. Great article.

    If alexis no longer wants to play for the club and our plans for the future and offering him a good contract cannot tempt him them set him free. Sell abroad and take the cash to replace him as best we can, you don’t get many alexis Sanchez to the £ these days. Soften the blow by bringing in top targets. I am not 100% keen of Mahrez but he will bring in some quality lost by Sanchez even under the understanding that he needs to fit into the squad (not team) and fight for his place.

    Snachez is not perfect and can be replaced. He has done well and fights hard, which he has needed to do as he runs down blind alleys as much as jack wiltshere.

    Bye alexis, we made you a star rather than a bench warmer (the bacca years), but now you can jog on.

    Afc bigger than the player

  13. Don’t compare Jonh Terry and Sanchez.Terry is a Blue legend.
    again wanting to play Champion league, might be telling Arsene to be more ambitious by bring in Quality players.I believe Sanchez will be an Arsenal player come next season.
    Chuks Gooner.

  14. Lemar is not even close to Sanchez, maybe Kevin Debryne….However a swap deal with Aguero will make Wenger change formation from a 3.4.2.1 to a 3.4.1.2 formation whereby playing both Lacazette and Aguero as CF and Ozil plays behind them. However our wing backs would attack as much as they will defend. but Wenger signing Van Dijk and either Fabinho or William Carvalho would tighten our defence. Nice FC is close to signing Mathiew Debuchy £3milon, Crystal Palace want Chambers for £20 million, West Brom want £12milion for Gibbs, Juve want Scseny £10 milion total raised is £45milion for the 4 of them, Everton want Theo for £30 million that’s total £75million that would be enough to get both Van Dijk and Fabinho/Carvahlho. we will just add £15milion

    1. starting line up would be
      —–Lacazette——-Aguero
      —————–Ozil——-
      Kolasinac—-xhaka–Fabinho/Carvalho—Bellerin
      Koscieny—-Van Dijk—–Mustafi
      Second team
      —–Welbeck ———Giroud——
      —————-Iwobi———-
      Monreal—–Ramsey——Coquelin——-Ox
      Holding——-Meteserker——-Gabriel

  15. Quite an enjoyable read. However, I disagree with a couple of points. First of all, it’s clear that Alexis doesn’t want to go abroad. I’d love nothing more than for him to go to PSG, or Milan, or even China. But that ain’t happening. He priced himself out of going to Bayern, and they have a much better chance of winning CL than City do. For some sick reason, he has his heart on playing under Pep again, and frankly, if they paid us like 80mil for him, I’d let him go in a heartbeat. But they won’t, and that’s why I think we should stick to our guns. You mentioned marriage, and you made comparisons to it. What you forgot though is that Alexis is still under contract. So yes, in a way it’s like a marriage, and if you don’t love the person, you’re probably better off without him, but there’s something called professionalism and honor life, and in football. Say the kids are involved. Then you maybe you want to raise them to make sure they turn out okay, and then get a divorce from your spouse. I believe Alexis is a true professional, and if we refuse to sell now, I think he will suck it up, and honor the remaining year. Another comparison you made was John Terry. Well, I think the reason he signed for Villa was not because he didn’t want to play against Chelsea, but simply because he didn’t get any other offers. And that’s a whole different story all together. Bottom line is, I’d sell him only for crazy money. Otherwise, I want him to stay and help us win the title. Who knows, maybe by the end of the next season he’ll realize that Arsenal is where he wants to stay and retire a legend.

  16. If it was any other player I would agree with the sell him mentality, I believe that Alexis will want to win silver and will play his best, it will help push us on towards the EPL and that is the prize for next season right?

    I also think Alexis would be happy to leave on a free knowing he could then ask for more money as there would be no transfer fee involved.

    I do believe we could still benefit from keeping him and then look to replace him in 12 months with a marquee signing, Griezmann is a player that keeps popping into my head when thinking about the ACM role… and now we got Lacazette. I would like to see them link up at AFC.

    The players know Alexis, they know he is driven and he is passionate, if they know he is leaving in 12 months but believe we will replace him with quality then I do think the players will accept it without disruption. If anything it might make the players who want him to stay to perform better up till Jan and if we are leading the pack…

    As for the author’s wife comparison, try using a whore instead, someone who wants material items. Alexis wants trophies and money and believes he will get that with Pep. If we win the EPL and City win nothing, offer more money than City then the mercenary could change his mind.

    Alexis want UCL, the competition in the EPL will be tough… who wants to bet that City will fin in the top 4 again? I admit it is a good chance but it was usually considered a safe bet that AFC would have UCL football…

    Imagine if City are sitting 5th by Jan and AFC is top, Alexis wants UCL football…

  17. why cant we just sign gelson martins (portugal)
    this guy is beast and can tear defences
    he is young and way better then lemar
    sell sanchez for 60 + hart
    and buy gelson for 35m
    we will regret loosing on him

  18. Well i for one would suggest that we have taken enough of this from players who feel they command whatever they want. No disrespect to them playing, but when it has come down to this, then we must take a stand and show them that we are a Club. (Even tho i blame Wenger for this)
    1. Don’t Sell Alexis to Any club this summer.
    2. Go out there, get a WC replacement for him (Perhaps Diego Costa) and Strengthen the team!
    3. Place Alexis on the Bench for the Whole season to rub his face in the dirt!
    4. Win the PL this season, Win the FA cup and Win the Europa League TO MAKE SURE we are in the CHAMPIONS LEAGUE next season.
    5. Then Allow him leave on a free to where ever he chooses. (EPL teams inclusive)
    6. Whenever He faces us with his new team, XHAKA has a go to “Break his leg for the season”
    7.This New game plan would remain till he (ALEXIS) retires!!
    8. Then we would have got one back!!

    This is just my thought though!

    GOONER!!

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