Asterix wrote:
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/jul/18/arsenal-alexis-sanchez-finances-contract-arsene-wenger
This sounds like the club feeding the journalist a story, but you never know if it's really their thinking, or part of on-going negotiations.
The argument is that selling Sanchez makes it harder to get back into the Champions League and therefore harder to attract top players. Or if you do attract top players you have to pay them even higher wages. Plus you'd lose out again on the sizeable Champs League TV money - up to 40m pounds each season.
Weighing that up against a transfer fee for Sanchez, and the argument to keep him sudden;y becomes more compelling.
Even more so when you look at the money spent by those clubs trying to break into & then retain top4/CL.
IIRC all of LFC, Spuds & ManU have spent in excess of 100m over more than 1 summer trying to get into top4 and then staying there.
I don't disagree with the strategy as opposed to being more concerned that AW will still prioritise his principles re player development and intuitive style, along with his comments that he doesn't like the 343 as for him it's a defensive formation.
retaining Sanchez and Ozil along with signing Lacazette improves us over last season, as does the 3421,
however that alone is not enough to secure top4.
One last point - I saw something about AW prepared to play the kids in the EUROPA so as to concentrate on the PL.
IMO if you are prepared to sacrifice a comp that the club should be capable of winning, then you basically need to win the PL title. Winning EUROPA gives you silverware and a direct entry into CL Group Stage, so in comparison it is at least as good as finishing in the top3, and add the silverware and then the only remaining position that ticks the same boxes is as league Champions.
That said IMO unless AW spends 100m to address the squad issues then my concern is that he is only aiming at top4 as opposed to the title, whereas IMO if you aim for the title you are more likely to assure top4.
