Former Arsenal defender Gabriel Paulista says he thinks Alexis Sanchez or Mesut Özil will stay at the club this season, but not both.

Gabriel moved to Valencia this summer, but he had a few words to say about the star men at his former side. “The team would lose a lot if they left,” he admitted. “I would bet at least one of them stays. Don’t ask me which one, though!”

Both Özil and Sanchez’s contracts with Arsenal expire at the end of the season. Neither have committed their future to the club, but they also haven’t agreed to leave just yet.

Unless Gabriel has some inside information, his comments are probably just speculation. We don’t know for sure whether either will go or stay in January, nor in the summer, but both players leaving would be a disaster.

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Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez against Tottenham Hotspur. (IAN KINGTON/AFP/Getty Images)

Alexis is certainly the closest. The Chilean almost left for Manchester City on deadline day, after they made a £60m bid for his services. Now, the papers are rumouring a cut-price £35m January deal.

But it wouldn’t surprise me if Özil decided to leave as well. He’s generally carried the team this season, and Arsenal have always struggled in his absence, in my opinion. Now he sees Sanchez on the verge of leaving while the Gunners struggle to make it into the Champions League.

If the club don’t show the ambition to rectify the situation, I can’t see it ending with the German signing a new deal.