"When you are a player you perform until the last day of the contract. Do you really think you sit in the dressing room before a game and say 'oh I've only got a year to go on my contract so I won't play well'," Wenger said. "If that was true we would sign everybody for 20 years. I'm not convinced the length of the contract has any impact on the performance.The manager was asked about @Alexis_Sanchez in his post-#AFCvBEN press conferencehttps://t.co/HXloYtgQYh
— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) July 29, 2017
? Arsene Wenger insists that expiring player contracts are an 'ideal situation' for Arsenal. ? More here: https://t.co/4bSOd6oF6d pic.twitter.com/lcjZ4mM4jn— Sky Sports PL ? (@SkySportsPL) July 31, 2017"I am amazed that you are surprised by that. It's an ideal situation. Everybody has to perform." In the past, Wenger has sold the likes of Samir Nasri and Robin van Persie to avoid losing them for free when their contracts expired. This time, Wenger is stubbornly sticking to his guns over Sanchez and, against all the evidence, the Gunners boss even claimed it was a good position for player and club to have only one year left.
Are Man City's players already preparing for the arrival of Alexis Sanchez? Transfer Talk: https://t.co/cRfFI5ZyOJ pic.twitter.com/bQbQdYZ9CH— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) July 31, 2017"In the future you will see it more and more, players going to the end of the contract. Why? Because transfers are so high even for normal players. Nobody will want to pay those fees," he said. "Nobody knows if Sanchez will extend his contract here. What can I do about that? One day he will go and Arsenal will go on. "Of course I think he will stay. How many times do I have to tell you?"
Also Read: Sanchez not for sale, insists Wenger
For the moment, Wenger has to do without Sanchez because the forward has delayed his return to training after going down with the flu. Sanchez has yet to feature in any of Arsenal's pre-season friendlies, including Sunday's 2-1 defeat against Sevilla in the Emirates Cup because he was resting after Confederations Cup duty. His lack of match action means he is a doubt to feature in next weekend's Community Shield against Chelsea and possibly Arsenal's Premier League opener against Leicester on August 11. "Sanchez is not back (in the country). He comes back on Monday night," Wenger said.
Arsene Wenger on Alexis Sanchez: "He has flu. I have spoken to him by text, he will come back as soon as possible." pic.twitter.com/VhKP04NtYn— Squawka News (@SquawkaNews) July 31, 2017"I don't know (if he can play in the first game of the season). We have to assess his physical state." One player certain to miss the Community Shield is French midfielder Francis Coquelin, who limped out of Saturday's 5-2 thrashing of Benfica with an ankle ligament injury. "He has a scan tomorrow (Monday). I don't think he will be available for the weekend. It's an ankle ligament, but it doesn't look bad," Wenger said.
After making a slow start to last season, Wenger is confident Arsenal will be more prepared this time despite the absence of Coquelin and Sanchez's delayed arrival. "I'm sure we will have done the needed work. Last season some players had a deficit in minutes played because it was after the European Championships," he said. "We have more players ready now. We should be ready, even though we have a tough start.""I had him on text yesterday" Despite newspaper claims, Arsene Wenger says Alexis Sanchez is staying at #Arsenal https://t.co/N0pE3KzaPW pic.twitter.com/78nSKrmWPm
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) July 30, 2017
