Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has finally admitted to making a mistake in the transfer market regarding Alexis Sanchez. At long last, Wenger has owned up to the idea that his club should have moved the Chilean out long before they actually did. Manchester City had a bid on the table for Alexis in the summer transfer window, but the two sides were still too far apart by the time deadline day occurred.
Arsenal did not have a replacement lined up, as their target, Thomas Lemar of Monaco, wasn’t interested in coming. Thus, the Sanchez deal with Manchester City fell apart.
Instead Sanchez found his new home on the red side of Manchester, this past winter window, in a swap deal for Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Arsenal then went on replaced the forward with Pierre-Emerick Aubamyeang from Borussia Dortmund.
In an interview BT Sport, Wenger admitted that his club should have sold Sanchez earlier.
“Of course it is a new start for us because of the uncertainty of the transfer period is over, because we have new players, and because we have to show that we have done well in the transfer market, that we have made the right decisions,” Wenger said before admitting that having multiple players out of contract at the end of the season created some instability.
“There was a lot of uncertainly around the team, with the Sanchez case, the Ozil case, and in hindsight maybe we should have cut that early.
“For him (Alexis Sanchez) it was very difficult because as soon as he had a game and was average he was questioned every time: ‘Is he committed, is he not committed?’ I never questioned his commitment but it was a difficult situation.”
The long term future of Sanchez at the north London club had become a distraction; that was clear. It was best for all involved that he moved on, but it’s a shame for the club and their fans that Wenger couldn’t realize this and make it happen sooner.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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