Arsenal’s summer transfer deadline day, and window in general, was so abominable that’s it’s hard to decide what to criticize first. Sure, they let Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain get away without replacing him, but more importantly, they did nothing to try and beef up the midfield and defense. The biggest failure though, was probably the fact that Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil are still around, and that they will almost certainly yield nothing in return for Arsenal when they very likely walk next summer.
In the case of the former, he’s clearly disinterested in playing at The Emirates, and it’s noticeably having a disastrous effect on the changing room. Certain Gunners players want Alexis gone, and you can see the disinterest on the pitch, not just in him, but in some of his teammates.
Manchester City made a move for Alexis as the window winded down, but obviously it didn’t happen. According to Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, it was a long way off from happening.
“‘It was not very close,” Wenger said in an interview with BeIN Sports.
“It’s very difficult for me to speak about that because what I want now is the player to focus on his career, on his season and Arsenal. I always think first, make sure that my commitment is at the level that is expected from people paying me and have confidence in me. On the player’s side it is exactly the same.”
“I always think first, make sure that my commitment is at the level that is expected from people paying me and have confidence in me. On the player’s side it is exactly the same.”
“I can not tell you everything that happened because after you decide to let a player of that calibre go, you need to replace him because nobody would understand that you let the player go.”
The replacement plan, at least in theory, was Monaco star Thomas Lemar, but he turned down the opportunity to come to north London; Wenger also revealed.
“When you can not do it you keep the player, and you make a financial sacrifice because at the end of the day what you want is to have a team with good potential and top quality.”
Wenger also addressed the fiscal elephant which is now potentially in the room- the expiring Sanchez and Ozil contracts.
“So Alexis Sanchez will go, like Mesut Ozil, in the final year of his contract, or you think that during the season you find a way to extend the contract, or at the end of the season the players go for free,” Wenger said.
It’s certainly a mess at this club, and it’s only going to get worse at the Emirates before it gets better.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now and Minute Media. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
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