Arsene Wenger is confident Alexis Sanchez is happy at Arsenal, at least in the short-term, and won’t force a move to Manchester City in January.
Pep Guardiola made the Chile international one of his primary targets in the summer and appeared to be on the brink of completing a £60million move on deadline, only for the deal to collapse with Arsenal failing to convince Thomas Lemar to join them from Monaco.
Sanchez has subsequently endured a difficult start to the campaign, with injury and Chile’s failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup takings its toll. The 28-year-old old has, however, shown flashes of his best form in recent weeks and Wenger expects his star forward to see out the remainder of a contract which expires in June.
‘You say everybody thinks City will come in for Alexis [in January] – I am part of everybody and I don’t think he will go,’ Wenger said.
‘Do City need him? They have to decide that. But we need him here.’
“I expect him to be motivated against City but that is always the case,’ Wenger added ahead of Sunday’s meeting between his side and the league leaders.
‘One thing you cannot fault in Alexis Sanchez is his motivation. When he plays for Chile, he plays with passion that is in South America. It’s the same for [his previous club] Barcelona and Arsenal. He is happy when he is on the pitch and that is all he wants.
‘Was he close to joining City? No. But at the end of the day, close or not does not matter. It does not have any influence. What is important is that, when you are somewhere and you have the opportunity to give your best, that is what you must do.’
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