Arsenal round-up: Sanchez to stay; Lemar bid failed; Perez departs

By Jake Jackman

Arsenal look like they are going to keep Alexis Sanchez unless there is a major development in the coming hours. According to the Guardian, the club were open to selling him to Manchester City, but they couldn’t sign a replacement. City’s offer of £55 million plus £5 million in add-ons would likely have been enough to land the Chilean if the Gunners could have brought an attacking player in.

It is being projected in the media as a statement of intent from Arsenal, but it is bad business. If they knew they were going to let Sanchez go on the last day or at least be open to it, they should have signed a replacement earlier. The Chilean is now likely to leave on a free transfer next summer and the club will be in a huge mess with a lack of money to resolve it.

The player they had been looking at to replace Alexis Sanchez was Monaco attacker Thomas Lemar. Sky Sports report they had been willing to agree on a club-record deal of £92 million to bring him to the Emirates Stadium, but the midfielder wasn’t interested in the move. He would have preferred a transfer to Liverpool and that resulted in the Gunners dropping their interest.

Lemar can’t be blamed for not being interested in a move to Arsenal. The club are a mess and they will have difficulty attracting players of that quality in the future. They are set to lose further key players in the next two windows and they aren’t showing the ambition to become a force in English football again. Only two signings were made this summer and that is a disgrace.

One departure that did take place on deadline day was Lucas Perez. The striker finally made his return to Deportivo, which had been rumoured throughout the summer. Sky Sports report that it was a loan deal, but they didn’t confirm whether it had an option to buy or not. Everton had been looking at the Spaniard on the final day of the window, but he preferred a move back to La Liga.

This is a good deal for the club as Perez wasn’t going to feature this season and would have been a negative influence to have around the dressing room. He now has the opportunity to play regular football and could prove to be an asset next summer, if he does well at Deportivo.