Sanchez hints at Chelsea switch

Alexis Sánchez appeared to flirt with Chelsea yesterday after he declared himself happy in London but said that he wanted to play for a team with “a winning mentality”.

Although no clubs were mentioned by name and Sánchez also expressed a desire to complete his contract with Arsenal, his comments followed reports linking him with Chelsea.

Antonio Conte’s team are currently 19 points clear of Arsenal at the top of the Premier League and, having made several visible public displays of frustration this year, Sánchez’s comments will not do much to settle Arsenal fans. The striker is out of contract next year and there is little chance of Arsenal keeping him if he does not extend that deal. Speaking to Chilean media while on international duty, and quoted in Sánchez said: “I am happy in London and hope to finish my contract there.

“I’d like to stay in the city but with a team that is winning things, that has a winning mentality. I’m 28 years old, I still have a lot of years ahead of me. I am a player who looks after himself.”

Should Sánchez leave, Arsenal’s preference would be a for a club outside the Premier League, with Paris StGermain and Juventus both keen. Their problem, however, would be if he refused to sign a new deal and was only willing to move to one specific club in England. That situation occurred at Arsenal with Robin van Persie and Arsène Wenger did eventually accept a £24million fee and the striker’s sale to Manchester United in 2012 rather than lose him for nothing the following year.

Sánchez’s future – and that of Wenger – will again be on the agenda today at the manager’s weekly press conference.