Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has made his intentions clear that he believes Alexis Sanchez will be staying with the club into the new season.
The Chilean international has been one of the most talked about transfer sagas of 2017, with his contract running into it’s final 12 months of late, and after a number of links to Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Manchester City and now Paris Saint-Germain, Wenger has moved to rule out his exit.
“My mind has been made up for a while now. I think I’ve made it clear a few times that this is my stance (he will stay at Arsenal),” said Wenger.
“Alexis has got one year to go on his contract and we have no need to make money. He will be part of the team next season. We want to keep our best players. Has he asked to leave? No.”
When asked if he suspected his players had been tapped up recently, he smiled and said: “What do you think?
“If you have top players you cannot stop it from happening. It’s frustrating but you’ve got to fight against it.
“Honestly, it is a problem but how can you check when an agent meets a director from another club or which player speaks to who?
“We are respectful with the clubs. We ask them what they want to do and if they don’t want to sell then we don’t insist. For some, that is where the difference is.”
I’m sure the latest quote won’t end the speculation completely, and I can already see the next gossip line coming to claim that Alexis will hand in a transfer request in a couple of weeks, I just hope that the reports are false, but we are used to the rumour mill right?
Will Alexis be happy to run down his contract? Will his attitude prove a problem for us this term? Could he even sign a new deal?
Pat J