With the Sanchez transfer mere steps away, it fell through. The way Arsenal handled the transfer saga was certainly not ideal nor professional.
As the transfer window closed, so did the saga which was Alexis Sanchez to Manchester City. Now I am not going to pretend I am not disappointed.
I really thought Sanchez coming to City would be that final puzzle piece we needed in order to get to that next level. Certainly, that’s what Pep thought and that’s why we went so hard for him towards the end of the window.
That said, we shouldn’t allow that to take away from the deals we did early on, and how they improve our side. Certainly, I have to believe that this fiasco will affect Arsenal more than City.
After all, it was Arsenal who had said that neither he nor Oxlade-Chamberlain was leaving in this transfer window. Less than a week after saying ‘the Ox’ was the future of the club, he was off to Liverpool.
So when, on the morning of the transfer deadline day, Ivan Gazidis called Ferran Soriano to give the deal a green light, it was game on. The caveat on the Sanchez deal going ahead was the signing of Monaco’s Thomas Lemar to Arsenal.
City called Sanchez in Chile to let him know the good news and he, in turn, told his Chilean teammates. Life was good, but should we have taken Arsenal at face value? Is it partially our fault for assuming Arsenal could conduct transfer business in the ‘ususal’ way?
Certainly, and I’m no expert, it would seem to be one of the very first steps to see if the player targeted actually wanted to come to your club?
It turns out he didn’t and so we didn’t get Sanchez. This isn’t the first time Arsenal had a bad window though. Remember when they only signed Petr Cech on a free and not a single outfield player? Or how about the Luis Suarez ‘pound over his release clause’ debacle?
So surprised? Not really. Annoyed? Extremely.
But, as I said earlier, City still have a great squad. Going forward we have dynamite potential and we seem more solid at the back than we were last season. We will be okay without Sanchez. We may go for a loan deal in January or we may wait until next summer to get him for a free. Either way, it shouldn’t upset our season.
For Arsenal, it has been a major catastrophe, in this deal alone, in so many ways. Firstly, according to reports from people close to the club, Alexis Sanchez has alienated himself from some of the squad in the process of trying to secure the move.
Those actions would not have been needed had Arsene been honest with himself and the player from the outset. Not only could City have moved earlier for Sanchez, but Arsenal could also have had longer to secure a replacement. Certainly more than four hours to try to secure a player who was about to play for his country!
Up until a week ago, Wenger had been informing everyone, and anyone who would listen, no one was leaving the club.
Now, when Alexis returns to Arsenal, he will not see Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Reports from Chile, where Sanchez turned out for his country tonight, stated that the player was devastated by the break down of the deal, and that could be seen clearly. Not a single smile as he walked onto the pitch, during the anthem or the warm up.
In fact, directly before the game, Chile recognized him as becoming a centurion for the side. Again no smiles. I cannot wait to see those pictures!
Now, to be fair, that was only minutes after the window had closed and so after a few days of reflection, he may be a different player upon his return to the Emirates.
Next: Manchester City: Jadon Sancho joins Borussia Dortmund
Personally though, and considering all the missteps in the last 24-hours I am not sure he will be as productive for the Gunners. Hopefully, they’ll want to get rid of him by January.