WHY ALEXIS WANTS TO LEAVE ARSENAL

The Chilean's frustrations have boiled over this
season and it can no longer be a surprise that
he wants to join a team who can win major
trophies
This summer could be the most turbulent period at
Arsenal since the departures of Cesc Fabregas and
Samir Nasri in 2011. Those months in the club’s history
hold deep significance at Emirates Stadium due to the
circumstances in which both players left north London,
with Fabregas returning to his boyhood team Barcelona
and Nasri allowed to leave for Manchester City due to
“financial and psychological reasons”.
“Football rules are made like that, that the player can be
worth a lot of money today and nothing in six months so
it doesn’t look completely logical but, at the end of the
day, of course, we are forced into a decision like that for
psychological and financial reasons,” said Wenger after
the exits of both players were confirmed.
“I am a realist so I have no illusions. It's part of the
modern life of a professional football player. It's not by
coincidence that everybody suddenly lands at Man City.
“We did not want to lose Fabregas, but we were forced
into a situation we didn’t want. Nasri is a situation
where the player didn’t want to extend his contract with
the proposals he had somewhere else. What kind of
commitment can you have when the player is not there
long-term? That is the question you have to answer.”
While Wenger has reiterated in the past that Arsenal are
no longer in a position where they need to sell their best
players, those comments suggest that he will allow
players to go if he feels the long-term commitment isn’t
there. And that’s where Alexis Sanchez comes in.
As Goal revealed on Tuesday, the Chilean has set his
sights on a summer move to Manchester City where he
wants to link up with his former Barcelona manager Pep
Guardiola. The transfer is likely to prove a difficult one
to negotiate for City but, if it goes through, they will be
getting a player who has scored 22 goals and created
18 assists in 44 games this season.
Alexis's frustrations at Arsenal are nothing new.
Leicester had already wrapped up the league title last
year when the 28-year-old reacted angrily to being
taken off in an end-of-season league game against
Norwich when Wenger substituted him for defensive
midfielder Francis Coquelin six minutes from time. It
was a decision which infuriated Alexis as he stormed off
the pitch and went straight down the tunnel, prompting
his manager to make light of the situation.
“My job is to make decisions, and to make people 100
per cent happy there, as well, is very difficult,” said
Wenger.
“Of course [he was not happy], I know Alexis very well,
for a long time now, and he wants to play every minute.
But what's important is the team wins. The win was
much wanted, needed and difficult.”
These occurrences have become more commonplace
since Arsenal’s form has worsened. The 3-3 draw
against Bournemouth in January, where the Gunners
came back from 3-0 down to salvage a point in the last
minute, saw Alexis refuse to join in the team’s
celebrations at securing a late draw before he hurled his
gloves to the floor in frustration at the end of the game.
There has admittedly been an acceptance of his
behaviour because it’s part of his personality, but it all
points to the player being frustrated with his team-
mates who aren’t competing in the way their talismanic
forward wants them to.
A similar scene at Swansea bore witness to Alexis
putting his tracksuit coat over his head after being
substituted 10 minutes before full-time. Arsenal were
4-0 up and, while many of the coaching staff could be
seen giggling at the Chilean’s emotional reaction to
being taken off, it once again gave Wenger with more
questions to answer regarding the player's current
mood at the club.
A culmination of these events took a turn for the worse
last month. Alexis was dropped for Arsenal’s crucial
Premier League game with Liverpool at Anfield and
nobody knew why. It later came to fruition that Alexis
had stormed out of Arsenal training due to a "bad
tackle” and was spoken to by Laurent Koscielny after
the incident. Although initially rubbished by Wenger,
comments from both Robert Pires and Theo Walcott
poured scorn on the manager's denials and confirmed
that an incident did take place.
Alexis is a singular character with few close friends at
Arsenal. His body language on the pitch is said to have
upset many of his team-mates over the past few
months, culminating with the incident at London Colney
which Wenger tried to sweep under the carpet.
He is a winner who grew up playing football in his bare
feet on the streets of Tocopilla and his main motivation
is becoming the best and winning the major trophies in
European football.
Arsenal have shown this season that they aren't capable
of challenging for the biggest trophies under the current
management and no-one will be surprised if their star
man leaves in a couple of months' time or next year for
free.