Arsène Wenger has predicted it will become increasingly normal for players to run down their contracts, as he suggested Mesut Özil was doing at Arsenal, and he believes it may have the short‑term benefit of driving an uplift in their performances.
Özil has entered the final year on his contract and Wenger did the numbers to explain why the midfielder had not and, most likely, would not agree a new deal – at least, not any time soon.
However, the manager said he was relaxed about it, going so far as to say “it doesn’t matter” if Özil were to leave. Wenger even described the situation as being “ideal” because, more than anything, Özil would have to play well – if only to impress his potential suitors.
Wenger has a number of players in the final year of their contracts, including Alexis Sánchez and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Sánchez wants to leave, with Manchester City his destination of choice. His situation differs from that of Özil in that he has elite-level clubs who want to sign him.
Sánchez is still in Chile, as he recovers from a bout of flu, after his extended leave following his involvement at the Confederations Cup. Wenger said the forward would fly to London on Monday night.
Wenger was asked whether he was happy to allow Özil to go into his final year. “Yes,” he replied. “I think in the future, you will see it more and more. Why? Because the transfers are so high [in financial terms], even for normal players. You will see more and more players going into the final year of the contract because no club will want to pay the amount demanded. I’m convinced, in the next 10 years, it will become usual.
“It’s not an issue. I think it’s an ideal situation. Why? Because everyone has to perform. When you’re a football player, you perform until the last day of your contract. Whether you have two or one year left, it doesn’t change. You want to play and do well. Do you really think they sit in the dressing room and think: ‘Oh, I have one year to go, I will not play well today.’ When you are a football player, you want to play well. What does that have to do with the length of your contract? It’s amazing.”
It was put to Wenger that when players ran down their contracts, it was usually on the premise that they would leave – usually, as free agents, with the club receiving nothing in transfer fees. “Even if that happens, it doesn’t matter,” Wenger said. “You do well [in] what you do. I am amazed that you are surprised by that. It looks normal to me.”
On Sánchez and the fans’ fears that he is pushing to leave, Wenger said: “What can I do about that? One day, he will go and Arsenal will go on. We will all go one day and Arsenal, hopefully, will go on. Do I think he will stay [this season]? Yes, of course. How many times did I tell you that?”
Wenger watched his team play poorly and lose 2-1 to Sevilla on Sunday – a result which, bizarrely, saw them win the Emirates Cup. Clubs also win points for goals scored and Arsenal had scored five in their victory over Benfica on Saturday. Alexandre Lacazette got the goal for Wenger’s side against Sevilla.
Arsenal have just returned from a tour of Australia and China and it remains clear that Wenger is not a fan of the long-haul jaunts. “We had a very good record [at the start of seasons] as long as we didn’t travel,” he said. “We always won our first games. Since we travelled, we struggled a bit more. But we are in the same line as every other team. Everybody travels. Only the smaller clubs have the luxury to prepare at home.”
Wenger reported that Francis Coquelin would have a scan on Monday to assess the ankle ligament injury he suffered against Benfica and he would miss the Community Shield against Chelsea nextSunday. He also commented on Mohamed Elneny, who he played in the middle of a back three against Sevilla. “Overall in the future, I don’t think he’ll be a centre-back,” Wenger said.