The other day I was putting together a list of former Arsenal players I wish were still on the team. These are guys still playing somewhere, for someone.
My first choice was Aaron Ramsey, followed by Santi Cazorla, Nacho Monreal and Wojciech Szczesny. Then I thought, what about Alexis Sanchez? Would he be a good fit today with Mikel Arteta and the lads?
Good question, but recent performances tend to take the shine off the once polished Alexis Sanchez.
Since Alexis left Arsenal in 2018 his career has seen some hard times. Here’s proof…
2018 – Manchester United – 32 appearances, 3 goals
2019 – Inter Milan (on loan) – 3 appearances, 1 goal
Currently, Alexis is coming back from surgery to repair a ruptured ankle tendon he got while playing for Chile. The injury forced him to miss 3 months. However, even with the injury behind him, the Chilean will find it hard to get playing time at Inter.
However, according to Italian reports, the 30-year-old showed signs of his old self during his return in Tuesday’s Coppa Italia match-up. This is good news for Inter Milan supporters hoping to see the Sanchez of old return to the form he showed at Udinese, Barcelona and his first three years at Arsenal.
He left Arsenal on bad terms citing a “lack of inspirational direction from the club.” This was an unfortunate situation for Gooners to watch unfold. I, for one, thought Sanchez was a brilliant footballer during his first three seasons at the Emirates. He had skill, pace, desire, and the guy never stopped running. He was joy to watch, and helped bring some success to the club as well. I mean, come on, he scored 72 goals in his first three season as a Gunner.
Then came the start to the 2018-2019 season, and the the wheels came off. He became frustrated with teammates and the club, then lost his desire, his hustle, the fan’s support, and his body language screamed, “get me out of here!” So, in January of 2019 he was sent packing to Man United. Adios!
So, to answer my earlier question, NO, Alexis Sanchez would not be a good fit at the current Arsenal club, and for a lot of reasons. He left on bad terms, he disrespected the badge, his skills are diminishing, he has suffered a bad injury, he is 30 years old, and in my opinion the guy just has a selfish attitude. We definitely don’t need that brought into the mix right now!
Now, as for the other four guys I mentioned earlier, one can only dream of them in Arsenal shirts once again!
Cheers. Gunner1953