Former Arsenal midfielder Ray Parlour believes that the club will have a greater difficulty in dealing with the loss of Alexis Sanchez than they would with Mesut Ozil’s absence.
According to a Squawka exclusive by Tashan Deniran-Alleyne, Gunners legend Ray Parlour has recently revealed that Alexis Sanchez would be a greater miss than Mesut Ozil purely due to his immaculate work-rate and his goal-scoring prowess for the North London club.
“It’s difficult, Ozil’s been brilliant for the club as well, but Sanchez for me, slightly, would get the nod just for his work rate, the way he scores goals, is involved in the good play,” the former Arsenal man told Squawka.
“Ideally you want to keep both it’s as simple as that. You’ve got try and break the bank for both if you’re going to go forward. You don’t want to be losing your best players, I think Arsenal now are in a position to do that but obviously they need to get signed up quickly,” he added.
As things stand now, the duo are in the final 18 months of their respective contracts at the Emirates, and there has not been any clear indication yet as to whether or not they are likely to sign extensions at the North London outfit.
The Arsenal faithful have been a disgruntled bunch in the last decade as they have failed to sign their first-priority transfer targets due to being priced out by clubs with a greater financial muscle, and have also failed to hold on to a number of key first-team players.
Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Perise, Thomas Vermaelen, Alexandre Song and Samir Nasri were all in full swing for the Gunners, starting week in and week out, but once the big clubs came calling, the players packed their bags and there was nothing Wenger could do to help them stay.
The French boss finds himself in a similar predicament now, with time running out to tie down the world-class duo to a new deal at the club. They have been the focal point of the Gunners’ attack, and the entire side could appear toothless if Sanchez and Ozil are to be omitted from the discussion.
Wenger has confirmed that the duo will see out their contracts at the club, but also cautiously admitted that they may leave Arsenal on a free should they not sign extensions. Thus, it remains to be seen whether the Arsenal boss handles the situation in a different manner or if the chain of bad fortune continues to loom over the Emirates.