Arsene Wenger reveals keeping Alexis Sanchez could cost Arsenal as much as £140m as Manchester City circle
ARSENE WENGER has admitted keeping wantaway striker Alexis Sanchez could cost Arsenal £140MILLION.
Sanchez, 28, was set to move to Manchester City for £60m on deadline day last Thursday but the Gunners pulled the plug on the deal at the last minute.
And Gunners boss Wenger knows it has been a costly move as the Chilean can move for free at the end of the season — and he will have to splash out to replace him if he does leave for nothing.
Wenger told beIN SPORTS: "You take Sanchez into the final year of your contract, you sacrifice £60-£70m in income and then at the end of the season you will have to buy somebody for that amount of money.
"So it has a huge price. So at some stage you have to make a decision, you have to sacrifice one or two [players]."
Gunners fans were yet again livid with Wenger's lack of transfer activity leading up to the season.
They failed with a £92m bid for Thomas Lemar that meant Sanchez was stopped from joining City.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was also sold to Liverpool for £40m after deciding he wanted to end his time at the club.
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But the Frenchman defended his lack of big name signings by claiming the market is going through severe changes and player's prices have become so inflated it is hard to buy them.
Wenger added: "We have today 107 players in England who go into the final year of their contract.
"It's a complete rotation and change in the way people see their careers, for two reasons.
"One, all the players expect higher wages because they anticipate inflation; [and two] because the transfer market has gone up so much but clubs do not want to pay such high prices on transfers for players, who are good players but will not change [the club's] life.
"The amount of money is completely disconnected to reality and the truth.
"No matter how well you work on the football pitch you cannot make a player go from €15m to €150m.
"But the calculation between investment and what you can get back has gone. It's just: can you afford to buy or not?"
