Arsenal had been growing in concern that after having gotten away from Barcelona’s watchful eye over Hector Bellerin, that we’d have no more concerns surrounding our big players being considered for transfer, by other top European clubs. However it seemed as if Arsenal’s next opponent was going to be Juventus, who were hanging around Alexis Sanchez, with the Old Lady waiting to propose an offer to the Gunners.
Good news however is that today’s Metro claims that Juventus’ interest has been rebuffed by Arsenal (no surprise there) but also by Alexis Sanchez, who is rumoured to now be in discussions with the club over a new extension to his current contract, with Arsenal hoping to tie him down until the end of 2020 at the very least. Alexis’ new deal will also see an increase in his wages, to roughly £160,000 per week, which will put him on tally with our current highest paid player Mesut Ozil.
Arsenal will be keen to tie Alexis up to a new deal because although Juventus may have been rebuffed in their approach for the Chilean, who has just returned to England following on from his impressive campaign with his national side in the Copa America, there are still concerns surrounding Alexis’ long term commitment to the club. Alexis has a real passion to be playing at the top of his game all the time and so with Arsenal failing to really challenge on the highest stage last year, there were supposedly growing concerns that the 27 year old was not entirely happy in North London.
However if Arsenal’s star was to sign a new contract, then it would surely put all rumours to bed and fans will be able to wait for the upcoming season in peace, knowing that our star players are fully committed towards achieving major honours with the Gunners next season. After Alexis, Arsenal will need to then begin working on a new deal for Ozil as well, who despite having concerns earlier in the summer that he was considering his future with Arsenal, now seems to have fully committed himself to the club, for the near future at least.
By AH