It would be pretty amazing for the Arsenal and Chile star Alexis Sanchez to be able to play any part at all on the Premier League opening weekend, but this is Alexis we are talking about Gooners and he has already proved a number of times since coming to north London that we have a pretty special player on our hands.
Arsene Wenger did not suggest that the striker would be able to start or even make the bench for the game against West Ham at the Emirates stadium next Sunday. In fact he declared in a report on the Arsenal website that the former Barcelona forward would not even be back in training until Monday, the day after we take on Chelsea in the Community Shield.
So what makes me think Alexis could feature against the Hammers? Well he will have a full week of training with his team mates before the Premier League opener for one thing. And judging by the videos our star man has been posting on social media this week, as reported by the Daily Mail, he has not exactly been slobbing around, eating cake and drinking beer since Chile won the Copa America less than a month ago. The videos show Alexis working out on a beach somewhere and he looks as fit, if not fitter, than the rest of the Gunners who have been in training for weeks.
We also know that Alexis will want to get straight back into action and play, and as long as he does not see it as a risk, I think Wenger will want him to play, especially as Danny Welbeck is still on the injury list. So what are the chances that we see our Player of the Season sooner than expected?