Laurent Koscielny has said that Alexis Sanchez must enjoy playing football again.

Alexis was close to leaving the club for Manchester City on the final day of the summer transfer window, but ended up having to stay at Arsenal. The sudden disappointment of not getting his move led to a belief that he wouldn’t be fully committed to Arsenal anymore.

While managers and pundits have had their say on the situation, Koscielny has become the first player to give his view. He believes the Chilean needs to enjoy playing football again and focus on playing well.

“Alexis is an important player for us,” said Koscielny, reports the Evening Standard. “I know it was a difficult situation with the transfer window but now it’s finished and I think he is focused on his job, on his performance and on his club. 

“He’s an Arsenal player and he knows that he needs to play and he needs to score some goals and give assists to be better. He’s still working every day like he did before, so the most important thing is to keep his head cool and just play and enjoy.”

Alexis could return to the starting line-up when Arsenal play West Brom at the Emirates. It would be his first Premier League start since the 4-0 defeat to Liverpool in August.

He made short cameos against Bournemouth and Chelsea, as well as starts against Cologne in the Europa League and Doncaster in the Carabao Cup. In my opinion, Arsenal need a focussed Alexis, if not a committed one, if they want to get back into the Champions League.

The club made a bold decision not letting him leave and will want to be vindicated with some good performances.