So here we are, the Alexis Sanchez conundrum.

The forward, and Arsenal’s best player, is into the final 12 months of his contract and is apparently looking for a move away from the club – and that club seems to be Manchester City after Bayern Munich’s interest has petered out, added to the fact that they have just signed James Rodriguez (on loan) from Real Madrid.

So the million-dollar question is should Arsenal sell him?

The £50 million valuation from Arsenal seems to be a sticking point as no club has yet to officially submit a concrete bid for the Chilean. So the question is are Manchester City looking at getting him for far less?

As a £50 million bid from the blue side of Manchester would put the ball in Arsenal’s court.

Alexis Sanchez is currently on £130,000 per week and it’s reported that Sanchez is looking for an increase to £400,000 per week – a figure Arsenal are never going to pay in a million years – the consequences to our existing wage structure would be catastrophic.

Our first option is to basically keep Sanchez, hope he keeps performing at his usual high level and use him to try and win the Premier League – selling him for nothing at the end of the season.

And the other is to sell him for £30-40 million (no club will offer the reported £50 million for a player with 1 year left on his contract) and re-invest that money into buying another player, such as Thomas Lemar from Monaco.

The thing is, for all his mood swings and negative demeanour on the pitch, he is our best player, someone who can win games on his own. Arsenal fans forgive his hissy fits because he is truly world class. You may laugh, but he is a player we are lucky to have at Arsenal and in the Premier League, only a handful of players come close to his level. Don’t make any mistake; if we lost him we’d suffer.

So is it worth strengthening our rivals? Manchester City want him and Chelsea, who lost out on Lukaku this summer, need a forward. Selling to either one of those clubs automatically makes them much stronger and solves a problem they have. Keeping Sanchez however gives them problems that help us in the long run.

But with Arsenal, it will probably come down to the maths.

Why We Should Sell Alexis Sanchez:

Selling him is probably Arsenal’s first preference considering the big lump sum we would get. Arsenal would argue that the fee received could go towards another player to strengthen the side and added to that, we would get rid of a “negative influence” from the squad.

And why would we want to keep a player who doesn’t want to play for us?

Why We Should Keep Alexis Sanchez:

We have one of the best players in the world at the club, and are paying them £130,000 per week – when players of similar stature are demanding well in excess of that.

Alexis Sanchez is apparently not the kind of player to sulk and would still give 110% week in, week out for the team, which would help us go as far as we can in the Premier League.

Arsenal paid £35 million for Alexis in 2014, have had 3 productive seasons from him and would get one more. £35 million for a player of his calibre, for 4 seasons, could be considered a bargain looking at the transfer market as it is today.

So what if we have to release him next summer for free? We’ve had one of the best talents the Premier League has seen for 4 seasons and paid the same amount that Liverpool did for Andy Carroll for Christ’s sake!

Vote & Comment:

Anyway, place your vote below and also leave a comment about your thoughts on the Alexis Sanchez situation – and I will replying to any comments!

The future of Alexis Sanchez is still up in the air, with the forward strongly linked with a move to Manchester City. Some people have said that it would be worth keeping him for the last 12 months of his contract but we all know how football works these days – and there’s no way in hell Arsene Wenger or Arsenal would turn down something in the region on £50 million if that was offered. We might strengthen a rival but that’s the game today and unfortunately, how Arsenal conduct transfer business. We’ve sold players to Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea in the past, so Sanchez to City shouldn’t surprise anyone.

But I digress, it is our other superstar player I wanted to talk about this morning.

Mesut Özil is the other big player who is stalling on a new contract but unlike Sanchez doesn’t seem to be looking for a move away from The Emirates – although that may not be down to him. Alexis Sanchez is a player who has been linked with Bayern Munich, PSG, Manchester City and even Chelsea over recent months – with the vultures circling ever since it was revealed Sanchez wasn’t signing a new deal. For Mesut Özil on the other hand, there have been absolutely no links to him potential signing for anyone else.

Why is that?

Is it because he is a luxury player that no big side that wants to win things can have in their starting line up? Is it because he’s overrated?

Özil is a player who divides opinion and it’s almost as if Arsenal fans need to convince themselves thats Özil is a useful player who Arsenal need. But is he world class?

It is generally accepted that if Alexis Sanchez left Arsenal, it would be a disaster. But what about Özil? Do Arsenal fans care if he did leave?

The strange thing is, even if Özil does keep stalling on a new deal, then there might not be any clubs out there who would buy him anyway!

So do you want Mesut Özil to stay? Or would you prefer if he left and Arsenal spent the money on someone else? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!