Alexis Sanchez could hand in a transfer request to force a move to Manchester City.
If I’m being honest, I can’t remember the last time a player handed in a formal transfer request to force a move. Yet, according to the Telegraph, Alexis could be prepared to resort to such a measure just to get his move to Manchester City.
The saga is approaching a desperate point as every source imaginable attempts to guess what Alexis is thinking based on very little evidence. One such piece of evidence is Alexis’ Instagram picture announcing he was ill and wouldn’t be able to return to Arsenal training last Sunday as first planned.
Some concluded that Alexis was foreshadowing a strike after Arsenal refused to sell him. Arsene Wenger acknowledged the illness and said that Alexis will now return on Tuesday instead.
Arsenal’s stance on Alexis hasn’t changed all summer. The plan from the beginning was that Alexis would not be sold regardless of his contract situation, and nothing has happened to change that.
It’s possible that a rejected transfer request may become the cause of conflict between the player and manager. But even then, Arsenal would expect Alexis to honour his contract. From their perspective, the most important thing is to keep the player and not let him go to a rival club.
Then there’s the question of whether Alexis would even hand in a transfer request in the first place. There’s a feeling that he isn’t as attached to Arsenal as other players are and wouldn’t mind damaging his reputation with the supporters.
However, Arsenal have no obligation to accept such a request, and Alexis going on strike and not playing football goes against everything we’ve come to know about him. Suffice to say, everyone is growing tired of the whole thing.
We’ll see if he returns to training tomorrow, as he’s expected to do.