Why did Alexis Sanchez really leave Arsenal?

5 Replies

I am already fed up of the narrative. The one that people are putting around to defend him and attack Arsenal. That Alexis Sanchez has left Arsenal to win trophies.

No he has not, he has left Arsenal and joined the team who would pay him the most.

We can never be 100% certain about the motives behind someone leaving, but lets look at some facts.

Fact 1. Arsenal were winning trophies. 3 FA Cups in the last 4 years. In the League Cup semi-final and the next round of the Europa League. Had Sanchez been motivated to win trophies, he would have stayed at Arsenal.

This is not a Robin van Persie situation, who justifiable left with a single FA Cup winners medal to show for 8 years at Arsenal – an 86th minute appearance from the bench.

In the 3 full seasons Sanchez was at the club, he has won trophies in 2 of them. So it is a lie that he left Arsenal “because they were not winning thing”. Now winning big trophies is another story.

Fact 2. Manchester United are 12 points off the top. They are not going to win the league this season. They are no closer to winning it than Arsenal were in 2015/16 when we finished 10 points behind Leicester.

In fact, Sanchez has joined a Manchester United side who have no even finished above Arsenal since Sir Alex Ferguson left.

All this talk of Manchester United being in better shape to win the league than Arsenal. This season will make it once in 5 years that the Red Devils have finished higher in the league. It is a load of rubbish.

Fact 3. Manchester City wanted Alexis Sanchez. And if Alexis Sanchez had have been motivated by trophies, he would have joined them.

City will win the league. They are in the final of the League Cup (although Sanchez would be cup tied), are still in the FA Cup, and are amongst the favourites to win the Champions League.

Had Sanchez wanted to win “major” trophies in England, the move was clear and obvious, join Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.

They pulled out on the deal due to being unable to meet his wage demands.

Fact 4. In the summer, Bayern Munich openly courted him. Alexis Sanchez wage demands priced him out of a move. Reports in the summer were that he was demanding £420,000 to join the German Champions.

Now think of everything people are saying was key in Sanchez joining Manchester United.

Win trophies – Bayern have won the last 5 Bundesliga titles, they will make it 6/6 this season

Compete in Europe – In the last 8 years, Bayern have won the Champion League, 2 runners up, 3 semi finals and a quarter final. They are one of the most consistently competitive in the competition.

Historic Club – Like Manchester United, Bayern Munich are one of the historical big clubs in Europe.

So what reason does Alexis Sanchez have for not pushing to join Munich in the summer? They tick all his “supposed” boxes and are in desperate need of an attacking winger. Why did he not join?

The reality is, and only the agenda driven will disagree, Sanchez did not leave Arsenal because we were not winning things (we were). He did not leave the club because of the board, or because of Arsene Wenger. He did not leave the club because Thierry Henry told him too – a lie that Henry has since exposed.

Over the next 4 and a half years (a long contract for a 29 year old), Sanchez will earn around £100,000,000 in wages.

Manchester United are reportedly paying him a £20m signing-on fee, and an agents’ fee worth more than £10m.

That is £130m in the pocket of Sanchez and his agent.

That is what motivates him. That is why he has left Arsenal. For money and nothing else.

Sanchez is no different to every other money motivated footballer in the world. No different.

Keenos

PS: This will be my last blog about the greedy man. Support the players that play for The Arsenal, not those who leave,

Change in transfer policy signals end for Wenger

2 Replies

Our transfer dealings thus far in January have been interesting. Not just for the player we have signed (and those that we have sold) but for the way we have operated.

In the past, Arsene Wenger has been kingmaker when it comes to transfers. Heavily involved in deciding who he wants, how much he wants to pay, and what agents he wants to deal with.

This has led us to miss out on transfer targets in the past as he dithers over deals and shown a tendency to walk away rather than negotiate.

The signing of Henrik Mkhitaryan and the potential deal for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang show a change in the way Arsenal do their transfers.

Now I am not naive to think that Wenger has had nothing to do with these signings. As manager he needs to sign off on the deals, he needs to want the players, he needs to be working alongside those doing the deals to ensure the right players are coming in to fit into HIS squad.

But whilst Wenger has said yes to Mkhitaryan and Aubameyang, he has left the deals to be thrashed out by others.

Out in Dortmund to negotiate the deal for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was new Head of Recruitment Sven Mislintat, Huss Fahmy – Contracts, Legal & Commercial Expert – and Ivan Gazidis; whatever he does.

It is a move away from previous negotiations which would often see Gazidis and the now unemployed Dick Law be joined by Arsene Wenger.

The fact that Wenger is staying at home – and preparing the team for the League Cup game against Chelsea – shows that some of his job roles have been taken away, and the grip on the club loosened.

Henrik Mkhitaryan was also an interesting deal.

His agent is Mino Raiola. The Italian “Super Agent” who also represents the likes of Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. He has a reputation for demanding huge fees and moving his clients between clubs at regular intervals – and making money every step of the way.

He is the type of man Arsenal have refused to do business with in the past.

Back in the day, David Dein used to refuse to pay any agents fees (unless the agent was his son). Arsene Wenger is over the same thought process, that agents are a leach on the game who get paid huge amounts by clubs to bring players in. In the past, Wenger would not have dealt with Raiola.

As much as “Super Agents” are a cockroach within the game, they are now a key part of the transfer process. Major clubs now need to accept that they need to deal with these people.

It is interesting the shift in mentality at the club that Arsenal were now willing to deal with Raiola. You have to think this was a decision made above Wenger, by Gazidis, Kroenke, on the advice of other new incoming members of staff.

Raul Sanllehi does not join the club until February, but coming from Barcelona, he has had plenty of dealings with these agents that previously the club would refuse to work with. He had potentially given the nod for the club to deal with Raiola before he has even started.

The future will also be interesting once Sanllehi joins. It potentially means no more Gazidis at the negotiating table, as Sanllehi will be Head of Football Relations and surely deal with the footballing side of the club, leaving Gazidis to deal with the commercial activities.

The dream team of Sanllehi, Mislintat & Fahmy will lead future transfer negotiations – leaving Arsene Wenger to a side.

It shows a shift in policy, and the club preparing for Wexit.

Keenos

Alexis Sanchez GONE – Some thoughts

7 Replies

The Robert Pires quotes

Over the weekend, Arsenal legend Bobby Pires has come out with some interesting quotes about how happy Alexis Sanchez was in London and that he is leaving because Arsenal could not match his ambition.

“Alexis wanted to stay at Arsenal. I have not talked to him, but what I see, what I smell, is that he was very good in London, very good in Arsenal. What Alexis wanted was for Arsenal to spend money on other players.”

These quotes will, as usual, lead some to come out and abuse the Frenchman. Unacceptable.

However, these quotes from Pires do need to be taken with a pinch of salt, as the first thing Pires says is “I have not talked to him”.

Therefore, this is no more than Pires’ opinion on the matter, that he thinks (not that he knows) that Sanchez is leaving because Arsenal would not spend money on other players. That they could not match his ambition.

Alexis Sanchez’s ambition

Robert Pires is right in the fact that Arsenal failed to match Alexis Sanchez’s ambition, but not in the way he, or others, probably think.

The move has nothing to do with trophies, nothing to do with signing players, and everything to do with pound, shilling and pence.

Sanchez, like so many others before him, left for the money.

If he wanted success, he would have gone to Bayern Munich last summer, or Manchester City this window. But he picked Manchester United.

He went for £450k a week, £15m in his own pocket as a signing on fee, and an additional £12m for his agent. That is why he left.

“He has gone to Manchester United to win trophies. To play Champions League football” is the line being put out by many.

It is almost like people have forgotten that in the 3 years he was at Arsenal, Sanchez has won two FA Cups.

OK, it might not be the league title, but Manchester United have been no closer to winning the league than Arsenal in that time.

In fact, since Sir Alex Ferguson left, Manchester United have failed to finish above Arsenal.

They will, of course, finish above Arsenal this year but, 12 points behind Manchester City, they are not in the title race.

Had Sanchez joined Manchester United instead of Arsenal back in 2014, he would have a FA Cup, League Cup and Europa League medal in his locker.

It will be hilarious come the end of the season if Arsenal finish with a trophy (or two) and Manchester United, and Alexis Sanchez, finish potless.

Sanchez moving to win things? He is moving for the money.

Selling to a rival

After Robin van Persie we were told that we would “not sell to a rival again”.

Whilst it is frustrating that we are losing Alexis Sanchez to Manchester United, to then label Arsene Wenger a “liar” is childish.

What would you prefer? Arsenal to not be swapping Sanchez for Mkhitaryan? To let his contract go to zero and then join Manchester United for nothing? So at least we can say that we “did not sell Sanchez to a rival”.

Arsenal are getting a good deal.

No one is bigger than The Arsenal

From Brady to Henry, top players have left Arsenal in the past. Alexis Sanchez is not the first to make the move from London to Manchester, and will not be the last.

He is not even the best player to have left Arsenal for Manchester United.

No player is bigger then the club. Last I looked, it was not Alexis FC, it was Arsenal FC. THE Arsenal Football Club.

Keenos