Arsene Wenger insists Alexis Sanchez isn’t moving to Manchester United for money, calling the Chilean a committed professional, amid a pending swap deal for Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
A deal with Manchester United looks all but complete, but Alexis will be training with the Gunners until he leaves the club. Despite suggestions that the Chilean could struggle with motivation due to the speculation, Wenger denied that there’s an attitude problem.
He argued in his pre-match press conference: “No, they are professional. I have no trouble with Alexis Sanchez’s attitude. He trained with us yesterday and was fully committed. He is 29, the next contract will be important for him.”
Sanchez moving for money? "No, they are professional. I have no trouble with Alexis Sanchez's attitude. He trained with us yesterday and was fully committed. He is 29, the next contract will be important for him" #AFC
— Mark Mann-Bryans (@MarkyMBryans) January 18, 2018
From the sounds of things, the manager expects to lose the forward. He told journalists Arsenal did “the maximum we could afford to do”, but clearly it wasn’t enough. The 68-year-old also said the Sanchez-Mkhitaryan swap could go through in 24 hours, but also might not.
Wenger says #afc cannot compete financially with level of offer City/United make to players: "We did the maximum we could afford to do." Says Sanchez/Mkhitaryan will happen in the next 24 hours or not.
— James Olley (@JamesOlley) January 18, 2018
It seems to me like another classic case of Wenger staunchly defending a player who let him down. The boss rarely has a bad word to say about his former employees. In Sanchez’s case, he’s hardly performed all year, and probably cost the club around £25m in transfer fees they could’ve had by selling him earlier.
The 29-year-old rejected every contract offer, and now wants to move to a big-six rival. He’s clearly not moving for trophies, because all the trophies are heading to the other side of Manchester. Still, Arsene Wenger says the forward isn’t moving for money, doesn’t have an attitude problem and is fully committed.
You can’t buy that kind of loyalty.