Alexis Sanchez may have offered his strongest hint of likely Arsenal exit after bearing his mid out yesterday that he wants to play in the glamorous UEFA Champions League this coming season.
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“I want to play in the Champions (League),” Sanchez told reporters in his native Chile at a charity match in his home town of Tocopilla.
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“But the decision isn’t up to me,” he added. “I need to wait on Arsenal.”
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Sanchez has a year left on his Arsenal contract but his future has been up in the air since the London club failed to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in 20 years.
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The former Barcelona forward has been linked with moves to Paris St Germain and Bayern Munich, among other clubs, and his comments will only increase speculation he is set to leave London.
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Meanwhile, Arsenal had lost interest in signing Monaco’s Kylian Mbappe because he was too expensive, manager Arsene Wenger said after his side ended their tour of Australia with a 3-1 win over Western Sydney Wanderers.
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The 18-year-old forward had been linked with Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City and Arsenal after he helped Monaco to the Ligue 1 title last season.
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Local media reported that Arsenal had made a bid of 123 million pounds for Mbappe, but Wenger denied that after his side beat Western Sydney with goals from Olivier Giroud, Aaron Ramsey and Mohamed Elneny in front of 84 000 at the Olympic Stadium on Saturday.
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“That’s not true,” Wenger told the club website after the match. “People have a big imagination.
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“What we know now about Mbappe is that it’s over 100 million. After that it’s free to imagine what you want.
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“It looks like he will stay at Monaco. Too much choice maybe, so in the end people don’t move.”
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The victory over a physical Western Sydney follows a 2-0 win over Sydney FC on Thursday and sets Arsenal up for their matches against Bayern Munich in Shanghai on 19 July and Chelsea in Beijing on 22 July as part of the International Champions Cup.
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“It will be less robust physically but of course you play against teams who have top quality going forward,” Wenger said of what he expected against the European clubs.
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“In the last two games we focused a lot on attacking … Apart from that we will play in a different climate. It will be very hot, so we have to adapt to that as well.”
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