Sanchez is most likely to miss the opening two games, with manager Arsene Wenger also refusing to reveal if the club had received any bids for the 28-year-old.
“Alexis will not be available”, Wenger said when asked about team news ahead of the visit of the Foxes. “He had a little abdominal strain that he caught in training on Sunday morning before he came to Wembley”.
‘I can take gambles on one or two but I must focus more on players who had the right numbers of minutes in recent weeks’.
“I like the player because I have good friends in A Coruña”, he said.
With Arsenal failing to qualify for this season’s UEFA Champions League, Sanchez, who was Arsenal’s top scorer in the league with 24 goals last season, has been heavily linked with a move away from The Emirates although Wenger has repeatedly said this offseason that the Chile worldwide is not for sale.
Alexis Sanchez has been urged by Martin Keown to show “dignity and respect” if forced to see out his contract at Arsenal. “But we have all the other players prepared in pre-season and they are all ready”. I remember watching him at Bournemouth last season and he looked angry.
“I think he had in his career some bad moments because he had some small injuries”, Wenger said. His initial return to training was delayed by three days, with Arsenal citing an illness, and now he is injured.
“I can’t tell you that at the moment”, he said.
“It’s a long time since I spoke with Nasser because he was certainly very busy to complete the transfer of Neymar”, Wenger said.
Sanchez played no part in Arsenal’s Community Shield victory over Chelsea on Sunday, but he was at Wembley to join in with the celebrations.
Asked if Paris Saint-Germain had made an approach for Sanchez, Wenger replied: “No”. They are on (Kylian) Mbappe’s case, that’s what I read in the papers.
But he is no closer to shifting those deemed surplus to requirements as he believes many Premier League clubs are in the same position.
“Wenger is probably hoping he can somehow win the Premier League and keep Sanchez, meet his needs from a trophy point of view and find some way to match his contract demands – but I don’t see that happening”.
Sanchez is not the only injury worry for Wenger, who could enter the new season with as many as seven players on the sidelines. For example Ramsey, Ozil, (Per) Mertesacker, of course (Laurent) Koscielny is suspended.