Alexis Sanchez may have been tapped up, according to Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger.
The Gunners’ boss has remained adamant in recent weeks that Alexis is not for sale, regardless of whether he signs a new contract. However, with rumours circulating that PSG had agreed terms with the player, Wenger was asked again at his most recent press conference about the rumours.
“My mind has been made up for a while now. I think I’ve made it clear a few times that this is my stance. Sanchez has got one year to go on his contract and we have no need to make money,” he said, reports the Telegraph.
“He will be part of the team next year and after that I can understand it. We are in a strong financial situation so we want to keep our best players. Has he asked to leave? No.”
Then the questions turned to tapping up. AS Monaco have recently reported a couple of Europe’s major clubs over suspicions those sides had contacted Kylian Mbappé without permission.
When asked whether Wenger thought that a similar thing could have happened with his players, in particular Alexis, he responded: “What do you think? If you have top players you cannot stop it from happening. It’s frustrating but you’ve got to fight against it.”
“Honestly, it is a problem, I don’t deny that. But is there a realistic way to fight against it? That’s the question that I ask. We’ve fought against this for 20 years but it still happens. How can you check when an agent meets a director from another club or which player speaks to who.
“It happens every day. I don’t know what we need to do really because no-one has found the right solution. We are respectful with the clubs. We ask them what they want to do and if they don’t want to sell then we don’t insist. For some, that is where the difference is.”
Some fans will say Arsenal need to be a bit more insistent in the transfer market to land their targets.
But with the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid being landed with transfer bans in recent years, as well as the rumours that PSG and Manchester City are the clubs involved in the Kylian Mbappé saga, there are clear benefits to going about things in the right way.