Not the same Arsenal

> Arsenal teams of the past would have shown Sanchez and Ozil the door, says Dixon

somewhere, yes, agents and players manipulate situations – and clubs do, in order to get the best deal for the parties concerned – but in general, if you don’t want to go there, and you don’t want to stay, then you will be ousted from the environment and dressing room pretty quickly.

“Players work out whether you want to be there or not, and certainly fans do when they see your performances on the pitch.”

Alan Smith and David O’Leary were among Dixon’s teammates in the team of 1989 that Arsenal’s supporters remember so fondly.

While Smith believes Sanchez and Ozil are “fully entitled” to wind their contracts down, both he and O’Leary questioned the club’s judgement for again being in that position after selling Robin van Persie in similar circumstances in 2012.

“If somebody doesn’t want to be there and wants to wind their contract down, that’s within their right,” Smith said.

“It’s up to the manager then and how he handles that.

“Arsenal have a track record of allowing players to run down contracts, and these two are going to be the biggest examples. They could have got £60million (RM332m) for Alexis Sanchez; Arsene and the club turned it down.

“Ozil’s a slightly different kettle of fish but it might well be that they do lose those two players. I’d be more concerned about Sanchez going than Ozil.”

The 59-year-old O’Leary added: “They were in a similar situation – I don’t know why they got in a similar situation – with Van Persie. He was in the last year of his contract; they sold him because he had a year left, and were accused of taking the money.

“We’ve been told they turned down the Sanchez money. I definitely thought that £60million on the table: you know the player’s going to leave, you’d end up taking it.” - The Independent

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£1 = RM5.53