Should Arsene Wenger Or Alexis Sanchez Leave Arsenal?

Alexis Sanchez’s Arsenal future has been plunged into doubt after reports of a bust-up with under-pressure boss Arsene Wenger.

Paris Saint-Germain are said to be watching developments but Wenger insists he has no problem with Sanchez, who was dropped for the 3-1 defeat to Liverpool last Saturday.

Sanchez’s contract expires in 2018, meaning this summer is the last time Arsenal would be able to command a sizeable fee for a player they landed for £35 million in 2014.

Should Arsenal cash in?

Was Wenger right to bench Sanchez if the reports are true?

James McNicholas: I’m not so sure. Sanchez has been acting up, but a training-ground spat is nothing out of the ordinary at most clubs. The problem is that Arsenal’s squad exist in such a molly-coddled environment that any kind of confrontation is seen as problematic. He is an inherently competitive character, and that presumably spills over into the occasional strop.

However, those traits are shared by some of the Premier League’s most successful stars. Given the way things are going on the pitch, it’s difficult to escape the conclusion that the problem isn’t Sanchez — it’s Arsenal. It was also a curiously half-hearted punishment. If Wenger was attempting to discipline him, leaving him on the bench but bringing him on at half time was an odd move.

Tom Adams: If it is true that Sanchez did walk out of a training session ahead of a big game, and, as you might expect, Wenger is denying that is the case, then I think the manager was entirely right to drop him from the team. Behaviour like that needs to have consequences — it’s a basic matter of discipline and control and players can’t be waltzing out of key preparatory sessions and expecting to be playing come the weekend.

Where I do agree with James, though, is that Wenger really made a mess of the punishment. Under the circumstances it was really embarrassing that Wenger had to go back to him at half time and ask him to rescue the game. His assist for Danny Welbeck made his point more eloquently than any Instagram post: Sanchez is crucial for this Arsenal team. Wenger only went half of the way with his punishment, and it backfired.

Should Arsenal cash in?

JM: If he won’t sign a new contract, then I don’t think Arsenal have any choice but to sell. Wenger has publicly postured about the possibility of making him run down his contract, but in reality it’s unthinkable to let such a valuable asset leave for nothing. The likes of Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasir, Alex Song and Robin van Persie have all been sold in similar circumstances, and Sanchez looks set to be the next name in that list. The cost of replacing him will be so great that Arsenal need to recoup as much cash as possible.

TA: Arsenal are not the kind of club who can write off a financial asset like Sanchez and keep him to his contract until he leaves on a free. It just doesn’t make any sense. As James said, if they have any hope of replacing him with a player approaching his quality then they are going to need as much ready cash as possible. It’s not as if Arsenal don’t have a track record in selling off their best players; it’s been a consistent theme since the move to Emirates Stadium.

You imagine Sanchez would always try hard if selected, and seems an unlikely candidate to do anything like going on strike to force a move if the club did decide to keep him, but Arsenal would be best advised to get what they can for him this summer and reinvest.

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JM: Arsenal are a club gripped by uncertainty. It’s almost impossible to envisage what next season will look like, with the futures of so many key personnel up in the air. They could well lose their manager and two star players, as Sanchez and Wenger could be joined in leaving the club by Mesut Ozil. Right now, they feel like a club without any clear direction. With that in mind, it’s no real surprise Sanchez is thinking about jumping ship. At 28, he knows this is probably his last opportunity for another big move. His aforementioned competitive spirit determines that he wants to chase titles, and clearly he doesn’t feel he can do that at Arsenal.

TA: Whatever the ins and outs of whether Sanchez did leave training, or the motivation behind his recent petulant behaviour, the key factor for me is the fact that if Arsenal were challenging for major trophies and giving Sanchez the platform he deserves then you wouldn’t have a problem. As James says, why would Sanchez want to stay? His frustration with the shortcomings of his teammates is perfectly understandable given he is one of the best forwards in the world and does not have the kind of back-up he was used to at Barcelona. The root problem in the Sanchez saga is simply the fact that Arsenal are not as competitive as they should be, or he wants them to be. And that is down to the manager.

If Sanchez does leave, who should replace him?

JM: The fans would demand a big-name replacement. Marco Reus of Dortmund would make some sense, especially as like Sanchez he can operate out wide as well as through the middle. However, the combination of his physical frailty and Arsenal’s injury record is a worrying one. Antoine Griezmann is another name that’s frequently mentioned, but it feels like that might be a little ambitious. After all, is Arsenal really a step up from Atletico Madrid the way things stand? With top drawer candidates few and far between, perhaps the Gunners will end up going for a young player with the potential to reach that level. Kylian Mbappe continues to make headlines in Monaco, so it would be no great surprise if “The New Thierry Henry” was a prime target.

TA: Mbappe would be a big coup and he has scary potential, but he doesn’t have the experience or ability, yet, to stand in for a player who could score 30 goals and get 15 assists this season. It would be a sound investment for the future but Arsenal have realigned their attack with Sanchez in a central role this season and they would need a like-for-like replacement — or as near to that as can be found.

Wenger and Sanchez: If you could pick one to stay and one to leave, who would it be?

JM: Wenger out, Sanchez in. He’s so integral to Arsenal’s fortunes on the pitch, and the prospect of trying to replace him is a daunting one. Arsenal waiting years for a world-class centre-forward, and it’s agonising they stand to lose Sanchez so soon after converting him into one. As for Wenger, he feels like a spent force at Arsenal. It’s surely time for him to step aside — and perhaps a new manager is the only thing that could yet convince Sanchez to remain in north London.

TA: I think it comes down to the basic fact that Sanchez is a man pushing Arsenal forward, and Wenger is a man holding them back. It’s a painful thing to say about a manager who has loyally served the club for 20 years but as things stand, Sanchez is a bigger asset to the club. If a change in manager could convince him to stay then Arsenal should attempt to do it. But as we know, Stan Kroenke and the board don’t have the same motivations as the fans.