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What's the story?
Alexis Sanchez has reportedly been dithering from signing a new contract (extension) at Arsenal, and the supposedly want-away Chilean superstar has agreed a four-year contract, worth £275,000a week, with Ligue 1 goliaths Paris-Saint Germain, if reports in the Metro are to be believed. The Metro quotes a Le Parisien report that suggests a contract till 2021 has been agreed upon after Sanchez and his agent met with PSG's sporting director Antero Henrique in Paris this week.
Arsene Wenger, meanwhile, had vehemently denied earlier this week any possibility of Sanchez moving out saying ‘It’s only media imagination.’
In case you didn't know
Sanchez has not been a party to Arsenal’s tour of Australia and China - but before you can create your own assumptions from that little factoid, we'd like to clarify that this non-participation is as a result of the extended holiday he was granted after featuring for Chile in the Confederations Cup earlier this summer.
The Chilean was sensational last season as he dragged a rather poor Arsenal outfit to a respectable fifth place finish with a club high 24 goals and 10 assists in the league. This, of course, means that Arsenal will have to play in the Europa League this time around, and this is said to be one of the main reasons for Sanchez to demand a transfer out - he wants desperately to keep playing in the Champions League.
A possible reunion with Pep Guardiola had been mooted, but PSG seems to have stolen a march on the Citizens (again, after the Dani Alves hijack) and pulled off a remarkable coup.
The heart of the matter
In a trend that seems to be all the rage this transfer window, while the reports suggest that personal terms have been agreed, there is no such clarity with regards to the final transfer fee - the report suggests that PSG are confident of having a £36 million bid accepted - but with Kyle Walker having just gone for £50m; and Arsenal themselves having said that they want somewhere in the region of £90m-100m (a valuation that forced Bayern Munich to publicly withdraw from the race to sign Sanchez) - £36m looks way too low to force Arsenal to even begin considering sell their star player.
Video
Here's the very best of Alexis Sanchez:
Will the Gunners recover from losing him... if they do so at all this season, of course!
Author's Take
The major positives of any move out for Arsenal would be that Arsene Wenger would get complete control of the dressing room again (and won't have to put up with the Chilean's frequent tantrums of last season) and that the Gunners will make a substantial amount from the transfer - and not risk losing him for a free next year.
Convincing Alexis to stay, or even refusing to sell, would though be viewed as something that will go a long way in restoring Arsenal's reputation as a genuinely top club. And, of course, they would have a much better shot at winning trophies this season if he continues wearing the Gunner's no. 7 on the pitch!
