Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has reiterated his stance of keeping Alexis Sanchez ahead of the Gunners’ Community Shield clash against Chelsea this weekend.
The Chile international recently returned to training alongside his teammates following a rest for his Confederations Cup exploits.
Sanchez, 28, has attracted interest from both Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain over the past month, but it appears that the latter have cooled their interest with Neymar on the cusp of joining them.
In his press-conference, Wenger was questioned whether Sanchez had asked to leave the Emirates prior to this month’s deadline, for which he insisted that the attacker would honour the final 12 months of his contract.
“I will not give you anything on that. He is focused. My decision is clear – he will stay and he will respect that.
It’s as simple as that,” he is quoted as saying by Sky Sports News.
The £140,000-a-week star arrived two days last for first-team training due to his apparent flu, and Wenger admits that he has yet to decide on whether to include the Chilean in his matchday squad.
He added: “He rest needs to work on his fitness, but once he’s in the game he’s sharp and looks like he’s never been away.
He’s over the flu, and that was never a problem for us.”
Meanwhile, Wenger also offered an injury update for Sunday’s Shield game against Chelsea with Aaron Ramsey and Mesut Ozil likely to return to training after having sat out the open training on Thursday with a minor calf and ankle problem respectively.
