Alexis Sanchez is in the 'red zone', reveals Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger as he plans to give star man next week off

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Alexis Sanchez will be given next week off after Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger admitted his £30million man is in the ‘red zone’.

The Chile international has been one of the stars of the season so far following his switch from Barcelona. But, including internationals, Sanchez has played 27 games since August, and this has taken a toll.

And Wenger will rest the striker after today’s clash with Stoke.Arsenal head to Turkey on Monday for their Champions League clash against Galatasaray, but Sanchez will stay in London. 

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Chile international Alexis Sanchez is pictured in training on Friday at Arsenal's London Colney base 

Sanchez braced the winter elements as he trained with his team-mates ahead of the Stoke clash 

Sanchez has starred for Arsenal since his £30million arrival from Barcelona in the summer

Sanchez is put through his paces in trainingas the Gunners look to make it three wins on the spin

Sanchez shares a joke with Lukas Podolski after Arsenal's 1-0 victory over Southampton on Wednesday 

The Chile international takes on Southampton's Ryan Bertrand at the Emirates Stadium 

With the Gunners already through to the knockout stages and with little chance of finishing above Borussia Dortmund at the top of Group D, Wenger views next week as the perfect time for Sanchez to recover.

‘He will not go to Turkey,’ Wenger confirmed. ‘He will need a week’s break, I did it with many players before who were playing every game.

‘I did it with (Thierry) Henry, with (Robin) Van Persie and it always helped them to get through without injury.

‘Sanchez is in the red zone, you can see when he plays, but he can dig deep.

Sanchez is mobbed by his Arsenal team-mates after scoring the winning goal against Southampton 

‘He played his 27th game on Wednesday (against Southampton) since the start of the season. Unfortunately you never know how far you can push it.

‘We are not scientific enough to predict that completely but he recovers very quickly.’

Wenger hopes the decision to give Sanchez a breather next week will help his star man maintain his exceptional form.

And the manager says Sanchez is now revelling in the spotlight after emerging from Lionel Messi’s shadow at Barcelona.

‘It’s not easy in a team where you have such a dominant figure as Messi,’ said Wenger. ‘The game naturally goes through the strong point so in Barcelona the game goes through Messi. It means the other players become a bit more peripheral.

‘You can see now when you watch Barcelona, Luis Suarez was dominant at Liverpool and now you think “where is he?”’

Wenger was also left contemplating a mixed bag of injury updates to his fragile squad on Friday.

The Arsenal ace is shoved off the ball and Wenger fears his new signing is in the 'red zone' 

Arsenal have been boosted by the return to full training of Mathieu Debuchy and Wojciech Szczesny, but are sweating on the fitness of Kieran Gibbs (hip) and Laurent Koscielny (achilles) for the match with Stoke. 

Theo Walcott (groin), Tomas Rosicky (thigh), Yaya Sanogo (calf) and Nacho Monreal (ankle) have been ruled out.

Mesut Ozil (knee), Mikel Arteta (calf) and Jack Wilshere (ankle) are all long-term absentees.

Walcott had an injection on Friday in the hope of clearing up a groin problem that has dogged him since the last international break, but he won’t be available until next week at the earliest.

In light of Gibbs and Monreal’s injury struggles, Wenger confirmed Arsenal’s interest in Ipswich left back Tyrone Mings.

Sportsmail revealed on Friday that the Gunners will look to sign him next month, and have been quoted a price of £10million.

And Wenger said: ‘He is one of the players we follow, but we are not close to signing anybody at the moment.’