Arsene Wenger has lifted the lid on the transfer deadline day saga which saw Alexis Sanchez remain an Arsenal player and the Gunners fail to land Thomas Lemar.

Arsenal were willing to let Sanchez leave for Manchester City as the Blues offered £60million on deadline day, on the proviso they signed a replacement.

Lemar was supposed to be that man, with Monaco accepting a bid in the region of £90million from the Gunners.

However, the player himself decided to remain in Ligue 1 with two years still left to run on his Monaco deal.

Sanchez has been on international duty with Chile (
Image:
REUTERS)
Wenger spoke to the press on Thursday morning (
Image:
Arsenal FC/Getty Images)

Wenger insists he respects Lemar's decision, and has backed Sanchez to prove his worth on his return to action.

"Yes, of course. I have no doubt about Alexis mind," said the Frenchman. "At Liverpool it was his first game and suffered a negative experience. He is strong mentally.

"There was a lot going on on that front so overall it is very difficult to speak about that.

Wenger insists he respects Lemar's decision (
Image:
REX/Shutterstock)

"Lemar is at Monaco and Sanchez is here. After that, you have to keep a certain confidentiality about transfers.

"That’s why I believe it is very important we close all that before the season starts.

"He decided to stay in Monaco and you have to respect that. He has two years left on his contract to go, you have to respect that."

Sanchez took to Instagram ahead of his return to the Emirates, posting a picture of himself celebrating a goal in an Arsenal shirt.

He captioned: "Back home. Focus."

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