Arsenal: Return to winning ways; Sanchez sulk explained; Wenger contract update

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Arsenal returned to winning ways in the league and it was a great performance to boot as they overcame Swansea City by a 4-0 score-line away from home. The Welsh side have been a bogey side for Arsenal in recent seasons, which made the victory even more satisfying for the supporters. It allowed them to move back into the top four for the time being and they will be hoping that this can spark another run of good form as they desperately need to if they are to maintain pace with the rest of the top six.

The score-line may have flattered Arsenal somewhat, as they were helped by two own goals, but they looked a much more cohesive side with both Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez in the starting eleven. It underlined the importance of having both in the starting eleven and it will make the club even more determined to extend their current deals. There were other players that impressed in South Wales, with Alex Iwobi being the most obvious example. He has come through the ranks at Arsenal and has the dynamism to excite supporters. He will be benefitting from playing alongside two of the best players in the Premier League and beginning to make a name for himself.

The one sour note of the afternoon was the reaction of Alexis Sanchez after being substituted. He has since posted on social media and said that he was happy for his side’s victory, but it did add to the speculation about his happiness in London. Sanchez is a competitive player and after the match, Arsene Wenger stated that it was a cultural thing rather than anything more serious.

“I did not want to take a gamble on him,”

“There’s no problem there. The culture is different. Some South Americans are different from Europeans.”

It does seem that Arsene Wenger is downplaying the reaction and that is the correct thing to do, because he doesn’t want it to become a bigger story than it needs to be. However, it will be concerning for Arsenal supporters and the longer that he doesn’t sign a new deal, the more people will talk about Sanchez and his happiness. The clubs that are interested in him will have seen that and Arsenal may find it difficult to prevent this situation from having an effect on the first team. Some will argue that it already has, which makes it imperative that positive movement is made in the coming weeks.

Finally, the Mirror report that Arsene Wenger is set to agree a new deal at the club in March, which in turn could allow the club to focus on extending the contracts of Ozil and Sanchez. The club are hopeful that Wenger will agree to another two-year contract in the March international window. It had been expected that the speculation about his future may carry on until the summer, but the club are correct to want to put that to bed as soon as possible, especially if they want Wenger to stay at the club.

It could have a positive effect in terms of getting Ozil and Sanchez to stay at the club. Despite having a mixed relationship with the fan-base, Wenger is well respected in the game and players want to play for him. There is a belief that Ozil will agree to a new deal if Wenger stays at the club, while if the German signs a new contract, it could help convince Sanchez that the club is heading in the right direction. The three contracts are intrinsically linked and it will be interesting to see how this plays out as it will have a huge effect on Arsenal’s future aspirations.

Featured image: All rights reserved by Stuart MacFarlane