Former Arsenal player-turned-pundit Charlie Nicholas has urged manager Arsene Wenger to offload Alexis Sanchez to Chelsea during the summer transfer window.
The Chilean has looked far from his best form of late, and Nicholas feels that the Gunners should cash in on the player rather than being held to ransom.
Sanchez currently has only 14 months’ left on his existing deal, and he has shown no desire to prolong his stay following a standout season where he has notched 24 goals and 14 assists across all competitions.
Nicholas, who has watched his former side struggle this term, believes that the club should offload the attacker to local rivals Chelsea, who could be willing to pay up a £60m sum for his services.
Sanchez has struggled to make much of an impact on the Gunners’ league campaign in recent times, and Nicholas suggests that the club should move on from the player as he does not deserve a £200,000-a-week extension.
“These people [at Arsenal now] don’t even get close to winning the title. You are talking about jumping from £120,000-a-week to £200,000-a-week for Sanchez. Sell him,” he told TalkSPORT.
“He has not been interested in the game for the last eight weeks. He is camouflaging it. I would sell him. Get him out. If he wants to go to Chelsea and Chelsea want to pay £60million, I would sell him to Chelsea.”
The Gunners fell to an embarrassing 2-0 defeat at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur over the weekend, and this sees them six points adrift of fourth-placed Manchester City with a game in hand.
Next up, Arsenal face off against Manchester United at the Emirates over the weekend, and they will have to be in their best form in order to break the Red Devils’ 25-game unbeaten league streak.
Wenger also has a score to settle with Jose Mourinho after having failed to take three points in the 12 previous outings where the two have been involved.
