Not only is the World Cup winning defender the club captain of Arsenal, but as announced recently Per Mertesacker will take up a coaching role with the Gunners when he hangs up his boots at the end of the coming season, so it is clear that he has a very good working relationship with Arsene Wenger and the rest of the backroom staff.
So you would think that the former Germany international would have a pretty good idea of what is going on behind the scenes at Arsenal, which is why I take his comments on the Arsenal website about our Chilean striker and so-called contract rebel Alexis Sanchez to be more than just talk.
The BFG was explaining how Alexis was a driven player who always gives his best on and off the pitch, so the concerns we often have about him not getting enough rest due to his frenetic schedule for club and country should not be too bad.
The German also dropped a line about how much he was looking forward to playing alongside the striker again this year after he missed almost all of last season through injury, so unless he is just hoping that Alexis stays it tells me that Mertesacker knows that Arsenal will not be selling.
He said, “He was impressive again at the Confederations Cup. He played a longer season than us so he’s now on holiday so he’s very quiet now with conversations and stuff. But one thing he is, is a warrior on the pitch.
“I think he likes to come back as quickly as possible from his holidays. He hates to calm down.
“So I’m really looking forward to playing alongside him in my last season and I think he makes us tick.”
So has the giant centre back just confirmed what we all hope, that Alexis Sanchez will still be at Arsenal for the next season at least?
Bob.