Why Arsenal MUST persuade Alexis to stay….

BEST SEASON EVER? STATS SHOW WHY ARSENAL MUST HOLD ON TO ALEXIS SÁNCHEZ by Russell Cane

Is Alexis Sánchez (or any player) really worth £200,000 a week? Should Arsenal succumb to the Chilean’s extravagant wage demands to secure the star’s future at the club or allow him to leave for pastures new?

Following speculation that Alexis Sánchez could be on the verge of a move away from North London, with Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City favourites to land the forward, the £200,000 per week that Sánchez is holding out for would see the 27-year-old top the club’s highest earner, currently Mesut Özil who is reported to be on £140,000 per week.

Having entered the final two years of his contract, which is due to expire in 2018, rumours regarding Sánchez’s future at Arsenal have began to circulate. Are the North London club prepared to meet the star’s financial demands or will Sánchez be yet another player, in a long list of star names, to leave Arsenal?

So how important is it that Arsenal keep Sánchez at the Emirates? Well if the stats are anything to go by, we’d say VERY!

Our player performance data analysts (Stattos) at Oulala.com have taken a look at Sánchez’s stats in seven key areas since he moved to Arsenal in 2014 to see how he has compared in his first five games this season to his two previous campaigns at the club.

The 27-year-old has completed 82 per cent of his passes this season, an improvement on his previous two campaigns. His take-on success rate is also up, having completed 65 per cent of all dribbles attempted.

In front of goal, Sánchez’s stats continue to impress. His shot accuracy of 70 per cent is better than ever before, while his conversion rate of 23 per cent has also increased.

Although Sánchez’s minutes per assist ratio is slightly down in contrast to his debut season in 2014/15 (368 to 389), his minutes per goal ratio has improved, now standing at an impressive average of 130 minutes for each of the three goals he has scored in the Premier League this season.

Overall, Sánchez’s average of a goal or an assist every 97 minutes is a vast improvement to his previous two campaigns.

Arsenal face Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday. The two sides have each registered 10 points from their opening five games in the Premier League and sit fourth and fifth respectively.

Sánchez will be one of a number of key players Arsene Wenger will be relying on to help guide Arsenal to their third successive victory following wins over Nottingham Forest in the League Cup on Tuesday and Hull City in the league last weekend.

However, should Arsenal lose a player of Sánchez’s quality to a rival club, breaking the 12-year drought of not winning the Premier League will not get any easier, as highlighted by the departures of stars such as Robin van Persie, Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, who all of course went onto win the title with other clubs.

He’s undoubtedly playing the best football of his Arsenal career but is Alexis Sánchez really worth £200,000 a week? Should Arsene Wenger bite the bullet and offer the Chilean the deal he wants?

10 Comments

  1. i really like sanchez to stay with but if he wants to leave he should think twice about it and not forget where we rescued him from at barca also there are not many other footballing sides better suited to his game than arsenal may be man city but there he would have to play the way guardiola wants him to and wouldn,t have the same freedom he enjoys with us and for sure wouldn,t be the main man,he needs to ask some of former players for advise.

    1. cant ignore the fact he still after all these years is not integrating with the squad fully
      he wants to compete for the highest honours here, if he doesnt this year , he will leave in the summer,
      reckon he would have left in last window if we agreed to it, his agent was fishing.

      chile’s pele wont be content with an fa cup- nor will his fans

  2. The only sides that can take Sanchez away from us are City (stacked with Wingers since signing Nolito & Sane), Bayern (have D. Costa & Coman) and Juve (who arguably have the best squad depth in Europe and will they even pay close the 200k/w?).

    Doesn’t mean Arsenal should just extend his contract. Keep him here, he feels at home, he plays superbly for us, doesn’t shy away from being the hero, everyone in the squad seems to love him and doesn’t get in the news in a negative way. Not to mention his dedication to the sport, his origins and himself are pretty much unparalleled, he’s in the CR7 class of professionalism.

    1. made a tiny mistake at the start of the 2nd part. It doesn’t mean Arsenal shouldn’t extend his contract.* He’s not one of those players that sits back and dips in work ethic after getting his reward.

  3. 200k a week won’t be too much for our Best/2ndBest player defending on how you rate him and Ozil.
    And still if he’s the one who demanded 200k then he might accept 170/180k a week.
    BOTTOM LINE:
    We must keep Alexis!

  4. We can afford £200,000 per week. Both Wenger and Gazidas have said it publicly
    We need to do everything we can to keep both Alexis and Ozil.
    I say give him the salary boost. May be that will keep him here

    Signing a top striker this summer like Griezmann, Abeymeyang, Higuain, Lacazette, etc
    would have helped a lot though

  5. if i had to choose between keeping ozil or alexis
    alexis all day

    but dont see it, ozil is happy here clearly… no bad thing
    just wish sanchez felt same

  6. I for one would love for sanchez’s pay to increase,the guy is a true professional. we need players like this always giving his all whenever called upon,hates to loose and is a winner. Arsenal should learn to hold onto there best players.The so called big clubs are known for there ability to pay there best players just to keep them motivated…..if walcott can earn 140 k alexis is wortth 200k .

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