Sanchez 100% committed

ARSENE WENGER expects Alexis Sanchez to be 100% committed to Arsenal despite seeing his dreams of a move to Manchester City dashed at the last minute.

City were confident of sealing a deal for the Chilean, who only has a year remaining on his current deal, and submitted a bid understood to be in the region of £60m (RM332m) on deadline day they believed would be enough to persuade the Gunners to sell their star man.

It is understood Arsenal were only prepared to let Sanchez leave if they managed to recruit a “world class” replacement, but when their 11th-hour offer for Monaco’s Thomas Lemar – worth a club-record £92m (RM509m) – failed then they opted to keep hold of last season’s leading scorer.

Sanchez will now return to the Gunners to see out the final year of his contract, and Wenger is sure the 28-year-old will continue to give his all for the cause. Asked if he felt Sanchez would be 100% committed to Arsenal, Wenger told beIN Sports: “100%. I have no doubt about that.”

Wenger also revealed that Sanchez’s proposed transfer to the Etihad was someway off coming to fruition in the end.

He said: “It was not very close. It’s very difficult for me to speak about that because what I want now is the player to focus on his career, on his season and on Arsenal football club.

“I spoke before about integrity and values, and I always think first: make sure my commitment is at the level that it is expected from people who pay me and have confidence in me, and I think on the player’s side it is exactly the same.” – The Independent