Arsenal should take second chance to cash in on Alexis Sanchez to Man City

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James Benge31 December 2017

Arsene Wenger’s patience at the chorus of questions over Alexis Sanchez’s future at Arsenal has finally snapped. Fortuitously for him, it now appears that Manchester City’s need for the Chilean might be greater than his.

Pep Guardiola has already confirmed there will be “internal meetings” at the Etihad next week as they mull what to do in the transfer market after the double blow of losing Gabriel Jesus and Kevin De Bruyne to injury in a 0-0 draw at Crystal Palace that ended their 18-match winning run.

Of course at 14 points clear at the top of the Premier League, you suspect City could win the title if they found their Jesus replacement from the Dog and Duck Sunday league side - but Guardiola’s targets lie beyond just domestic dominance.

That is where Sanchez comes in. City could well be without Jesus when their Champions League campaign resumes on February 13, but in the Chilean they have a replacement who would be free to play in Europe’s elite club competition.

Speaking after the 3-2 win at Crystal Palace on Thursday, Wenger bemoaned the “unbelievable” questions he has faced over Sanchez’s future; but he will doubtless have been no less frustrated by what he saw from his No.7 against West Brom.

Having once more failed to put in the sort of performance that should be the bare minimum for a player of Sanchez’s quality, the Arsenal manager must realise that the greatest value he can now extract from his best player is financial.

Set aside the opener from a free-kick, which could well go down as an own goal, and Sanchez was as disappointing as he has been throughout this season.

The 29-year-old has produced moments of brilliance for Arsenal since the double blow of missing out on his dream £60million switch to the Etihad and seeing Chile fail to qualify for the World Cup. But then of course he has: on his day, Sanchez is among the Premier League’s half-dozen best players.

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A healthy return of seven goals and three assists before today have come alongside games where Sanchez has been a hindrance on his team-mates, obsessed with doing it himself and only passing the ball when absolutely necessary.

Rather than powerful drives at goal or fine one-twos, the forward’s stock trade this season has been the sort of lofted straight pass into the box that scarcely ever comes off.

Not so today. Sanchez was sharing the ball, moving it quickly and with purpose in a bid to break down a disciplined, numerous West Brom defence. For 35 minutes he was the consummate team-mate, moving the ball quickly, creating space for team-mates with his movement and coming back on defence to help Seal Kolasinac tame Matt Phillips.

In particular he deserved an assist for a deft pass over the top of the defence to Hector Bellerin, but neither recipient nor deliverer could quite get the ball’s movement right.

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It was hard not to wonder if this display of teamwork was designed to catch the eye of Guardiola, a man who has always demanded his forwards do more than simply take the most direct route to goal.

It was easy to see how Sanchez in a sharing mood could be the perfect man to fill the hole vacated by Jesus, particularly as it has so often been claimed that the City manager’s greatest frustration with Sergio Aguero is how little he contributes outside the penalty area.

Perhaps it was simpler, and after all the talk of further dressing room bust-ups Sanchez simply wanted to show himself to be a good team-mate.

Unsurprisingly though Sanchez was unable to suppress his instincts for too long; for 35 minutes to be precise, before Dr Jekyll became Mr Hyde.

It is no secret that vice-captain Laurent Koscielny and Sanchez’s relationship is frosty: the pair were at the centre of a bust-up in March that saw the striker named on the substitutes bench for a 3-1 defeat at Liverpool.

Still, it was remarkable to see the Chilean bawl at the on-field skipper for several seconds, seemingly demanding the ball come to him quicker and with greater regularity.

Sanchez’s point was somewhat neutered by the fact that Koscielny passed the ball to him more than any other player in the first half.

But of course it is not a prerequisite of a football team that all 25 players get along all the time.

But Wenger might at least hope that Sanchez would channel his frustration into making an impact on the game, in much the same way that an angry Eden Hazard becomes an even more formidable threat for defenders.

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Sanchez by contrast becomes ever more diffident when things aren’t going his way, decreasing his pace to an amble and scarcely leaving his post on the left flank.

His heat map was positively glacial. Without the injured Mesut Ozil Arsenal needed Sanchez to take control of the game, to find a way past West From by sheer force of will if necessary.

What they got instead was a player who would react to a misplaced pass by holding his head in his hands.

After Albion’s contentious equaliser from the penalty spot, where Mike Dean adjudged Calum Chambers to have handled in the cruellest fashion, Sanchez was a whirling dervish again but to no avail.

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Had his intensity been at that level throughout the game, Arsenal would not perhaps have been able to fall victim of a refereeing error.

It has been apparent for some time that though their reasoning was sound, few doubted Sanchez would continue to apply himself with vigour if made to stay this season.

A fortnight ago it seemed City were happy to wait and reunite the Chilean with his former Barcelona manager this summer.

Now that Arsenal have a second chance, they would be wise to cash in, no matter what the fee on offer.