Arsenal headed into the final week of the summer transfer window with three key players on their final year of their contracts- Alexis Sanchez, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Mesut Ozil.
The Ox went to Liverpool for £40 million, while Ozil stayed put. With Alexis, Arsenal was shopping him, specifically holding talks with Manchester City, but ultimately turning down a £60 million bid for the Chilean.
After the summer transfer window closed, manager Arsene Wenger admitted that Sanchez wasn’t very close to moving to City, and the Gunners massively dropped the ball on finding a replacement for him. Wenger admitted that Monaco man Thomas Lemar turned down a chance to join up at The Emirates; amidst reports the north London bid £92 million for him.
In a very informative and opinionated interview with beIN SPORTS, Wenger said that how it all played out this summer will have a huge financial impact next summer transfer window.
“You take Sanchez into the final year of your contract, you sacrifice £60-£70m in income and then at the end of the season you will have to buy somebody for that amount of money, so it has a huge price. So at some stage you have to make a decision, you have to sacrifice one or two (players).”
During the summer, Wenger had said the transfer market created prices that were so inflated they became “not real life” for the rest of the world. Almost every manager of a Premier League big six club commented on the insanity of the market, but Wenger was especially vocal. He expressed these views again.
“We have today 107 players in England who go into the final year of their contract.’It’s a complete rotation and change in the way people see their careers, for two reasons,” Wenger said.
“One, all the players expect higher wages because they anticipate inflation; (and two) because the transfer market has gone up so much but clubs do not want to pay such high prices on transfers for players, who are good players but will not change (the club’s) life.
“The amount of money is completely disconnected to reality and the truth.”
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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