It’s not your normal Arsenal transfer rumor, it’s star forward Alexis Sanchez. The Chilean has established himself as an early leading candidate Player of the Year Award, as he put up a hat trick in last Saturday’s rout of West Ham United and now has 11 goals in 14 matches.
Chelsea Manager Antonio Conte, in his weekly press conference today, took a question about the possibility of side moving the superstar from North London to West London.
Conte responded: “I don’t think it’s right to talk about players of other teams.
“We are totally focused on next game against West Brom.
“Next season is very far away and it’s not right to talk about it. It’s not fair on my players.”
Conte’s counterpart on the other side, Arsene Wenger, has consistently said that Arsenal is much more than Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil, two players who are both demanding a £300,000-a-week contract extension. The Frenchman said that the Gunners will not be held ransom in the negotiations which are currently ongoing.
Both players will see their deals expire in 18 months.
“Arsenal is a big club. It is not one or two players who will make the difference to the club. What is important is always to take care of the values of the club and not to depend too much on one or two players.”
“The history of Arsenal is bigger than that. We have a lot of work to do but they have 18 months left and are completely committed. They will stay for 18 months and, hopefully, much longer. We will try to extend their contracts. The less you talk about it the better it is.”
Reportedly, one Chinese Super League club has offered Sanchez a deal worth about £402,000-a-week.
The CIES Football Observatory released their study of individual player values on the global transfer market in January, and Sanchez, who’s previously attracted interest from both Juventus and Bayern Munich, was rated the tenth most valuable player in the world.
While Alexis Sanchez transfer rumors ended up being the most relevant and interesting part of Conte’s media session, the main topic of interest to Chelsea supporters tuning in was the health of three key players- Diego Costa, Pedro and Nemanja Matic.
Unfortunately though, no fitness news was revealed during Conte’s presser.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication and Bold Global.
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