Wenger: Sanchez a £70m sacrifice

Arsene Wenger says Arsenal paid a 'huge price' when
they decided to keep Alexis Sanchez
Arsenal paid a "huge price" when they decided to
keep Alexis Sanchez on Deadline Day, according to
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.
Wenger rejected multiple bids from Manchester City
for the Chile international, the highest of which
totalled £60m, after failing in his attempt to sign
Thomas Lemar from Monaco for £92m.
Sanchez can leave the Emirates for free next
summer when his deal runs out and Wenger would
expect a replacement to cost in the region of £70m.
Alexis Sanchez missed out on a Deadline Day move
to Manchester City
"You take Sanchez into the final year of your
contract, you sacrifice £60m-£70m income and then
at the end of the season you will have to buy
somebody for that amount of money," Wenger told
beIN Sports.
"So it has a huge price. So at some stage you have
to make a decision you have to sacrifice one or two
[players]."
Wenger has recognised the growing trend of players
running down their contracts in order to engineer a
move away from their club. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
made a £35m Deadline Day move to Liverpool after
rejecting a new deal at Arsenal worth £180,000-a-
week.
Arsenal have been forced to sell to a rival before, in
2012 they sold Robin van Persie to Manchester
United for £24m after he refused to sign a new deal
at the club with just one year left on his contract.
Arsenal were forced to sell Robin van Persie to
Manchester United in 2012 when he refused to sign a
new contract
Wenger believes the sums of money spent on players
now is "completely disconnected to reality and the
truth", citing the transfer of Ousmane Dembele from
Borussia Dortmund to Barcelona for £135m as a key
example, with the France international costing the
German side only £13m last summer.
"We have today 107 players in England who go into
the final year of their contract," said Wenger.
"It's a complete rotation and change in the way
people see their careers for two reasons. One, all the
players expect higher wages because they anticipate
inflation; [and two] because the transfer market has
gone up so much but clubs do not want to pay so
high prices on transfers for players who are good
players but will not change their life.
Ousmane Dembele joined Barcelona from Borussia
Dortmund
"The amount of money is completely disconnected to
reality and the truth. I give you one example: no
matter how well you work as a football coach,
Dembele last year was €15m, this year €150m. No
matter how well you work on the football pitch you
cannot make a player go from €15m to €150m.
"But the calculation between investment and what
you can get back has gone. It's just: can you afford
to buy or not?"
Sanchez, who is set to return from international duty
this week, could be in line to play for Arsenal against
Bournemouth on Saturday.

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