Wins like this will not convince star duo to stay, admits Arsene

ARSENE WENGER hailed the commitment of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil in Arsenal’s stirring derby win over Tottenham – but does not believe victories like this will tempt them to stay.

Both Sanchez and Ozil are out of contract in the summer and set to leave the Emirates Stadium, potentially to rivals in the Premier League and likely for free.

Yet both were outstanding in Arsenal’s 2-0 win here, with Sanchez scoring the second goal and Ozil pulling the strings in attack.

The standard of their performances did not surprise Wenger, but he admitted the ‘quality of the contract’ tabled by Arsenal is the more important factor in deciding their future.

He said: ‘I know them well and I know when these guys go out onto the football pitch they want to win a football game. They showed commitment again today, I never questioned that commitment.

‘They can have bad games but when the players get near the end of the contract, if he has a bad game, everyone says “of course, because he goes”. Their interest is to play and win. I am long enough in the job, [wins like] this are not enough. The quality of the contract has to be good enough for them. I am convinced they love the club and love the team but the rest will be decided. When, I don’t really know.

‘The whole thing has to be right, they have to be happy. I believe they love the club, they want to stay but there are other top clubs out there who can offer good contracts as well.’

Wenger complained about Raheem Sterling’s diving and other refereeing decisions in Arsenal’s 3-1 defeat at Manchester City before the international break, but did not accept his team enjoyed the rub of the green here.

There was debate over whether Arsenal were fortunate to be given a freekick for a foul by Davinson Sanchez on Alexis Sanchez, which led to Shkodran Mustafi’s opener. Alexandre Lacazette may also have been offside in the lead-up to Sanchez’s second.

Wenger said: ‘Two weeks ago we conceded a goal that was not marginally offside, it was a yard offside and nobody found a word to say.

‘I watched it again, it’s not true he was offside [today] and it was a foul.

‘I think we played with purpose, good concentration and the desire to be always efficient and with great solidarity.

‘From the first until the last minute, our concentration was very high, there was never a minute we dropped a little bit our focus.’