Alan Smith is not convinced that Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez would stay at Arsenal if they won the Europa League this season.

Arsenal remain one of the favourites to win the Europa League, and could use it to get back into the Champions League. However, the former striker feels that wouldn’t be enough to persuade Ozil and Alexis to stay at the club.

“I do not think it would persuade them (Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil) to stay if they won the Europa League,” Smith said, as reported by the Daily Star.

Ozil and Alexis are both out of contract in the summer. While there’s still a chance Ozil could stay, Alexis is likely to leave after coming close to joining Manchester City in the summer.

As for the Europa League itself, Smith isn’t sure how Wenger will handle the knockout stages. There’s a chance that Arsenal may need to win the competition to get back into the Champions League, but it’ll depend on their Premier League position.

“I think for Arsene Wenger he could go both ways,” he said. “He is playing a totally different 11 in the Europa League anyways it’s not like he’s mixing and matching. I think he will go that way for as long as possible.

“I think if they are in seventh position with no chance of getting into the Champions League spots then yes, he will probably do that in the latter stages, if they are still there.”

Arsenal will play Swedish side Ostersunds FK in the round of 32 in February. While the Gunners are expected to win that tie, they could still have to compete with the likes of Napoli, Borussia Dortmund, Atletico Madrid and Lyon for the trophy.