Sanchez returns to Arsenal training after illness

Alexis Sanchez finally returned to training with Arsenal yesterday amid persistent speculation that the Chile forward is keen to leave the Premier League club.

Sanchez, 28, missed Arsenal’s pre-season tour of Australia and China, as well as last weekend’s Emirates Cup tournament, as he rested following international duty at the Confederations Cup.

He was due to resume training with his Arsenal teammates on Sunday, but he was unable to fly back to London until yesterday after going down with the flu. Some cynical Arsenal fans feared Sanchez’s illness was a ruse to further distance himself from the club as he weighs up whether to push for a transfer.

Sanchez is in the final year of his Arsenal contract and his decision not to accept the offer of a lucrative new deal has sparked interest from Manchester City, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich and Juventus.

With FA Cup holders Arsenal due to face champions Chelsea in the Community Shield at Wembley on Sunday, Sanchez has now rejoined his teammates at their London Colney headquarters.

Just hours after posting a picture on social media of himself and his dogs next to a private jet, Sanchez added a photo of him running and wrote: “Back to training.”

Speaking over the weekend, Wenger had said he would have to check on Sanchez’s fitness before deciding whether to include him against Chelsea.

Arsenal start their Premier League campaign against Leicester City on August 11. Whether to play alongside or replace Sanchez, new signing Alexandre Lacazette has left an irreplaceable void at his former club, according to Bruno Genesio, the Lyon manager.

Lyon have been hit by an exodus of top players during the close season including Corentin Tolisso, Mathieu Valbuena, Maxime Gonalons and Rachid Ghezzal. But none is more damaging than the loss of 26-year-old Lacazette, the club’s top scorer in each of the last four seasons.

“We can’t replace Alex. We’ve bought Mariano [Diaz], who has different qualities, and we have young players with different qualities too,” Genesio said. “We’re going to have to compensate collectively for his departure.”

Lacazette was Ligue 1’s top scorer in 2014/15 and finished second to Paris Saint-Germain’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Edinson Cavani over the subsequent two years.

He bagged 91 league goals and 113 in all competitions over the last four seasons, convincing Arsenal to splash out £52 million (Dh252.5m) to sign the France international.

Lyon finished fourth in Ligue 1 last season and will play in the Europa League during the coming campaign, with the final of that competition played in their own stadium in May 2018. “That needs to be a positive pressure,” said Genesio.

“We can’t be over-motivated or allow that to create negative waves by saying we have to win or have to be in the final because it’s in Lyon.”