Arsenal kept hold of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil in the summer to give themselves the “best possible chance” to win something this season.

Ivan Gazidis insisted that if the Gunners were money-motivated, as they have been accused of being, they would have sold the star duo in the last window.

Arsenal have sold Samir Nasri to Manchester City in 2011 and Robin van Persie to Manchester United a year later, when both had just one year left on their deals.

But Sanchez and Ozil were both retained in similar circumstances this summer and are instead heading for free transfer departures at the end of the current campaign.

Sanchez and Ozil were still Gunners when the summer window closed — now, what about January? (
Image:
Rex Features)

Chief executive Gazidis said at Arsenal's AGM on Thursday: “Probably the most vocal criticism we've ever had at an annual general meeting was after we had transferred Robin van Persie in the last year of his contract.

"That was one of the most difficult decisions we've ever had to make.

“We were told then that we were financially motivated and not focused on football. This summer, with stronger underlying financials, we've taken a different tack.

“The decisions on Alexis and Mesut Ozil are certainly not decisions that fit the narrative that we put money first. But we have taken that approach to give the club the best possible chance to compete for trophies this season.

“It's quite possible that, in retrospect, people may say that some of the decisions we have made his summer prove to be wrong or foolhardy.”

Arsenal are only fifth in the Premier League table, already nine points adrift of leaders Manchester City after nine games.

But they are well-placed to advance to the knockout phase of the Europa League and are into the last eight of the Carabao Cup.

Gazidis also claimed they weren't intending to off-load Germany international defender Shkodran Mustafi just a year after his £35million arrival from Spain's Valencia, despite the club being open to a deal in the closing stages of the summer window.

He insisted that “is simply not the case. Otherwise he wouldn't be in our squad this season.”

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