Arsene Wenger reiterated that he’d rather see the January transfer window banned, so managers and players can stay focused on football.

In his pre-Chelsea press conference, reporters asked Wenger about the current window. Arsenal have made a number of changes behind the scenes, bringing in a new Head of Recruitment and a Head of Football Relations.

But rather than talk about that, the Arsenal manager simply responded: “The transfer window should be banned to keep our life a bit more focused on football.”

It’s not the first time Wenger’s argued against the window. In late December, he said he’d like to scrap the window, as he wants full commitment from your players for the season. Clearly the January window interferes with that.

That’s a particularly contentious issue for Arsenal at the moment, given Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Özil’s situation. Both players have under six months left on their contract, so this is Arsenal’s final chance to cash in on them.

Any club who want to sign the players will make the Gunners an offer now, knowing that, meaning it will be hard to get full value, and it will be hard to have the players’ full focus.

It must be difficult when you’re hearing about all the clubs you could leave for. The same unsettling stories also surround Theo Walcott, Francis Coquelin and Mathieu Debuchy among others.

It hardly makes the window seem like a positive addition to the football calendar, but it’s something Arsenal and Wenger just have to deal with.