Wenger must cut his losses now Sanchez gamble has backfired
Having refused to sell for £60m in the summer, the Arsenal manager must cash in next month
As the holder of the most famous economics degree in sport, Arsene Wenger has never exactly been known for his willingness to gamble in the transfer market. A risk-taker on the pitch, for certain, but his fiscal caution away from the dugout is also legendary.
It is why the decision to turn down £60million for Alexis Sanchez – a player in the final year of his contract, who wanted to leave and had been the focus for dressing-room unrest earlier in the year – shocked even some of those in proximity to the Arsenal boardroom. “I thought there was no way we would keep him if a big offer came in,” said one club source, who had grown accustomed to seeing Wenger always make the safest financial decision.
Lee Dixon put it even more bluntly. “We’d have just shown them the door,” he said. “If you don’t want to play, then go.”
Even among much richer clubs, there is no precedent for a club turning down that sort of fee for a player in Sanchez’s contractual position, especially when another star – in this case Mesut Ozil – could also leave for free the following summer.
To be vindicated, Wenger needed one of two things to happen. Sanchez’s mind either had to be swayed by a renewed belief that Arsenal can really win the biggest prizes. Or his performances needed to be so spectacularly good that he simply repaid the financial hit by virtue of his uplift on the team. As we approach halfway in the Premier League season, Arsenal find themselves seventh, with Sanchez having scored three goals from open play. The gamble is backfiring.
Arsenal, of course, pinned their Sanchez decision on the failure to sign a replacement in Thomas Lemar from Monaco but, even allowing for that deal collapsing, there was a missed chance for a fresh start. Sanchez and Ozil may still be their best players when they are performing at their peak but would Arsenal really be worse off without them? Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott, Alex Iwobi, Danny Welbeck, Jack Wilshere and Alexandre Lacazette could simply have been given more game-time.
Giroud and Walcott scored 35 times last season for Arsenal – do we now expect Sanchez and Ozil to match that this year? It is one thing
One source said, ‘I thought there was no way we would keep him if a big offer came in’
for places to be taken by quality players who are not quite delivering but are clearly the future. It is another for places to be taken by quality players who are only around for the short term but are so superior that no one can argue with their inclusion.
Yet where Arsenal find themselves is with places being taken by players who are uncommitted in the long term and are also not delivering much more (and perhaps less) than the proven capabilities of those watching from the sidelines. The chance to start a new cycle is being lost and it is also fostering dangerous frustrations in the squad that could provoke others to leave. There is a feeling among some players that Wenger has indulged Sanchez and Ozil and there is a lack of accountability for their performances. “If they are pulling up trees work-wise you might put up with it, otherwise it is an issue,” said one source.
The obvious quandary for Wenger is that they do occasionally put in big performances and their day-to-day commitment, both in training and matches, has been acceptable. Yet games such as the towering display against Tottenham Hotspur will only take a club so far in the Premier League and consequently the Champions League. It has stalled the wider development of Arsenal’s team.
Wenger has been unusually critical of aspects of Sanchez’s play this week and he even substituted him on Wednesday during the ultimately futile attempts to break West Ham down. The Chilean certainly did seem to be trying – and stats about him regularly losing possession are slightly misleading in that he often takes the most difficult and potentially rewarding option – but he was clearly out of sorts. Wenger highlighted how he has played less this season as a centre-forward and was dropping off in an attempt to become involved.
“He loves to touch the ball, so when he doesn’t get it as much as he wants he comes deep,” the Frenchman said. “Then, when you start at 35 yards away from goal, it’s difficult to score.”
It all leaves Wenger with some difficult decisions ahead of the visit of Newcastle United tomorrow but surely some rather easier ones if the contract stalemates continue and, with Manchester City and Paris St-germain still interested, big offers emerge in January.