Alexis Sanchez one of ‘six or seven strikers’ available to Arsenal as Arsene Wenger appears to warn player over starting role

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James Olley21 September 2017

Arsene Wenger has insisted there is nothing sinister about his handling of Alexis Sanchez’s return to fitness but appeared to warn the forward he will not receive special treatment.

Sanchez played the entirety of Arsenal’s EFL Cup 1-0 third round win over Doncaster last night, six days after another 90-minute outing in the Europa League against Cologne.

In between, the 28-year-old was only a second half substitute against Chelsea and has started just one Premier League game this season.

Sanchez was given an extended rest after reaching the final of the Confederations Cup with Chile, missing games against Leicester and Stoke but played the first 62 minutes of August's 4-0 defeat at Liverpool.

Photo: Dan Mullan/Getty Images
Dan Mullan/Getty Images

He came off the bench against Bournemouth – after another international break in which he played twice - before a 25-minute cameo at Stamford Bridge with Wenger claiming Sanchez simply requires careful management on his return from a truncated summer.

“Look there’s not disguised attitude on my side, I just try to get him back to full fitness and for me the Europa League and the League Cup last night is important as well,” the Arsenal manager told Standard Sport.

“So I just tried to give him competition and to get him back to his best because I gave him a long holiday and after that long holiday this year he had a real rest. He came back not really fit, it took us time to get him back and then he got injured and so if you add the injury and you add the rest time it was a bit long.

“And that’s what last night you could see that he was coming back sharp now and that’s why I left him on the pitch as well for 90 minutes because I wanted him to have a real go.”

In Pictures | EFL Cup Third Round

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Sanchez only returned to Arsenal at the beginning of the month after his proposed move to Manchester City collapsed on deadline day as the Gunners failed to secure Monaco winger Thomas Lemar as a replacement.

However, Wenger vowed Sanchez’s desire to leave has had no effect on his reintegration to the team, although when asked whether he was still central to his plans for the season, the Frenchman replied: “All the players are, he’s not more than another. I said I chose the team at Chelsea who can be strong on counter attack and fight very hard and Sanchez could have played if he was 100 per cent fit at the start, but for me there’s no real hierarchy.

“I have six or seven strikers, but if I don’t go for example I go for in one game with three strikers, the three who have not played will play in midweek in no matter what competition it is and that is nothing calculated.”

Arsenal expect to welcome back Mesut Ozil for Monday’s visit of West Brom with the midfielder expected to resume training today or tomorrow. Wenger confirmed Danny Welbeck will be sidelined until after the international break – meaning he will miss England’s final two World Cup qualifiers against Slovenia and Lithuania – due to a groin injury.

Calum Chambers is also out until next month with a reoccurrence of a hip problem while Theo Walcott will be assessed after picking up a knock last night.