DON’T MENTION THE BOSS
ARSENAL BID TO KEEP STAR STRIKER BUT.. Gunners offer Sanchez £9M-a-year deal but won’t reveal Wenger’s future
ALEXIS SANCHEZ has been offered a new contract worth £180,000 a week, but has been given no assurances about Arsene Wenger’s future.
Sanchez is holding out for at least £250,000 a week, and Arsenal fear negotiations could drag on until next
summer with no resolution in sight. The club is in a similar situation with Mesut Ozil, but intriguingly neither has been given an indication whether manager Wenger will commit his own future to the Emirates.
There is a strong belief at Arsenal that the Frenchman will sign a new two-year deal
but there remains a doubt, as the fans will demand a sustained title challenge this season.
Germany midfielder Ozil, in particular, gets on well with Wenger. But both he and Chile striker Sanchez are driving very hard bargains. Their current deals, worth £130,000 to top scorer Sanchez and £140,000 to playmaker Ozil, have 18 months to run.
The club are hopeful both will sign once more, with Ozil set to be offered a in excess of £200,000 a week, while Sanchez would collect £180,000 – which still amounts to £9million a year. However, the pair are in strong bargaining positions, as Mirror Sport revealed last week they have other options.
Sanchez has had a concrete offer from China worth £400,000 a week.
But the longer the saga drags on, the more dangerous it becomes for Arsenal – particularly with the underlying doubts over Wenger’s own future.