Some big reports which will please Arsenal fans have emerged last night and into this morning, surrounding the Alexis Sanchez situation. The Chilean is on the edge at Arsenal, seemingly undecided as to whether he will stay in North London or not next season. The general feeling is that he will leave the club during the summer, although there are a few considerations that he could still sit down to agree a new contract.
There were reports earlier in the week that suggested talks between Alexis’ agent and Bayern Munich had begun talks over the Chilean’s future at Arsenal. It was understood that his agent flew to Munich to speak with officials of the German side, but according to Sky Sports, Bayern were reportedly put off by Alexis’ wage demands. The initial reports of Bayern pulling out of the early negotiations were made by German media outlet, BILD, and the news quickly spread to England. Although the wage demands are not quoted in the Sky Sports report, it’s understood from other media rumours that Alexis was asking for around £330k per week, a figure few clubs will be able to match. Of course, if true then the Gunners will also have little chance in convincing him to stay.
Now as much as I would love to believe this report is true in that Bayern are no longer interested, I reckon we have to take it with a pinch of salt, as always. The factor that concerns me about the report is that I don’t think Alexis would make such high demands in terms of finances. Alexis is a true winner and is passionate for success. Alexis desires trophies, you can see that week in week out at Arsenal and he has made it clear how frustrated he is with the club that we haven’t been able to compete for major honours again this season. Money of course revolves around the game and it is very important to the players. However I don’t feel that Alexis is greedy in the sense that he would want a sum quite as high as the one being reported. Similarly to Mesut Ozil, I have no doubt that both players want to be paid on a level equal to their quality, however the reported £300k plus seems a little steep for Alexis’ demands. In my opinion the Chilean wouldn’t be too fussed about what kind of wage he was on, so long as it wasn’t a decrease from his current wage. Therefore the idea of playing for a club like Bayern Munich, where he would be pretty much guaranteed the success he craves, it seems a little strange that negotiations would break down as a result of the financial package.
If true, it means that Arsenal have one less club to fend off from trying to sign the superstar this summer. Now all the Gunners may have to deal with is the interest from other interested parties including Juventus, City and Chelsea, whilst of course trying to tie him down to a new contract.
By AH