Fed-up Arsenal players want club to sell Alexis Sanchez before transfer window closes
By Matt Law | Telegraph |
Arsenal’s fed-up players want the club to sell Alexis Sanchez before the transfer window shuts on Thursday night.
While the prospect of losing Sanchez to Manchester City so late in the transfer window has angered the club’s supporters, an overwhelming number of Arsenal’s players would support the move.
Telegraph Sport understands that the majority of the first-team squad have now had enough of Sanchez and the saga regarding his future. They believe he has no desire to be at Arsenal and has been allowed to get away with putting himself ahead of the team for far too long.
There is a strong feeling that the constant speculation surrounding Sanchez is having a detrimental effect on the squad as a whole and that it will only get worse the longer he stays without signing a new contract.
The bad feeling between Sanchez and his team-mates has been simmering for some time, but Sunday’s 4-0 thrashing at Liverpool convinced many members of the Arsenal squad that the club need players who are fully committed to the cause.
Sanchez was dropped for Arsenal’s trip to Liverpool last season after walking out of training and becoming embroiled in a bust-up with angry team-mates.
Although the decision received an avalanche of criticism from supporters, pundits and former players, it was believed many Arsenal players backed Wenger’s stance.
There were other incidents last season that have slowly convinced the Arsenal players that the mood around the club would be better without Sanchez.
As well as throwing his gloves to the floor following the 3-3 draw against Bournemouth, he made a public show of annoyance at being substituted after scoring when Arsenal were beating Swansea City 4-0. Wenger was keen to give Danny Welbeck the last 11 minutes of match time following almost a year out with a serious knee injury.
Sanchez also berated Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain during the 5-1 Champions League beating at Bayern Munich and, as the inquest continued, there was a feeling at the club that it was Sanchez rather than Oxlade-Chamberlain who was not following the game plan.
