Arsene Wenger said in his pre-match press conference this morning that any player can go to China if they want to. Wenger was being asked about the rumours of a world record offer for Alexis Sanchez from a Chinese club but it seems that he doesn’t view it as a threat (via Arsenal.com).
Arsene Wenger was quizzed about the future of Alexis Sanchez this morning and seems to be running out of patience with the questions surrounding his star man’s future. The futures of Sanchez and Mesut Özil have dominated almost every press conference in recent weeks.
The pair has 18 months remaining on their respective deals and are quite publically in negotiations with the club over extensions. Wenger was asked about the two players again this morning and quickly shut down the questions regarding an offer for Sanchez to join Manuel Pellegrini at Chinese club Hebei China Fortune.
“If people want to go to China, they go to China,” Wenger said. “I have completely different worries to China ahead of Manchester City.
“I think I closed that subject. I believe that there’s nothing more to add to that.”
As the press conference went on and questions still persisted, Wenger eventually ran out of patience with the journalists.
“These players have 18 month contracts and I don’t see why you have the urgency to ask these questions in every single press conference, maybe you lack creativity in the news,” he said.
It’s true that the two players do have a long time left on their contracts but you can understand why the press is reporting this story so heavily. Sanchez and Özil have been two of the outstanding players in the Premier League this season and Arsenal have a history of letting their key men run down contracts in the past. The links with China and Real Madrid aren’t helping and this story won’t go away until Sanchez and Özil sign their names on the dotted line.