Alexis Sanchez will miss at least the first two games of the Premier League season for Arsenal, with coach Arsene Wenger saying the absence is due to injury rather than doubts surrounding the forward’s future at the club.
With less than a year remaining on Sanchez’s current deal at the Emirates Stadium, the Chile worldwide has been linked with a move away from the club and that he could even walk away for free at the end of the upcoming season.
“He had a scan two days ago and he’s out for a while”, Wenger told reporters.
Wenger also dismissed media reports linking Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain with rivals Chelsea.
“I just think we are not open – what I said to you many times – to any offers, anyway”.
“Sanchez will not be available”, Wenger told reporters in a press conference. “(PSG) are looking for (Kylian) Mbappe, that’s what I read in the papers.
Sanchez was late returning to Arsenal’s pre-season training following his excursions for his national side at the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russian Federation.
Wenger admitted entering the new campaign without Sanchez is a blow for Arsenal as they look to re-establish themselves among the league’s elite having missed out on a top-four spot last term.
“For us Alexis Sanchez is a loss, of course”. “He is out for a while, could be two weeks but he will not be available for Stoke”. I personally think he’s a hugely talented player and he’s on the way up.
The French club have already stunned football by prising Neymar from Barcelona in a world-record £200m deal and sources close to the situation say that only marks the start of what is over the next few years set to be the most ambitious spending spree seen in football. He’s today very conscious of his qualities as well, something he was not always.