Arsene Wenger on Thursday reiterated his intention to hold Alexis Sanchez to the final year of his Arsenal contract and insisted further public discussion of the situation would be “suicide”.
Wenger revealed he has held talks with the 28-year-old over his future amid speculation he has asked to leave the Gunners and join Manchester City this summer.
The Arsenal manager declined to confirm whether this was the case but vowed to retain Sanchez this season – despite the Chilean forward refusing to sign a new deal worth £300,000-a-week including image rights – claiming his decision was final and the player would agree to remain in north London.
“Of course, I speak to my players,” said Wenger when asked about talks with Sanchez. “I will not give anything away on that but the only thing I can tell you is that he is focused, and my decision is clear: he will stay and he will respect that. It is as simple as that.”
Pushed further on whether Sanchez had indicated he will agree terms on a fresh contract, Wenger said: “That is again something that I do not want to come back on. Every negotiation has to be a little bit secret.
"The transparency of society is very pushy but we have to resist a little bit, as much as we can. We know as well we have a duty to inform people, but to talk about some things is not information anymore - it is suicide.
“I think he will be here this season, and if we can do it for more seasons we will do it as well. The frame of mind of a football player is quite easy. Once you go out and play, you focus on the game and you enjoy it.
"This is a thing that passes quickly, so enjoy every single moment - and he loves so much the game and what he does.”
