Neil Ashton: Arsenal ace Alexis Sanchez will be the only winner when he inevitably leaves the Gunners in the near future
SunSport columnist Neil Ashton insists the 29-year-old forward has never forgiven Arsene Wenger for his failed move to Manchester City on Deadline Day
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THE boardroom chatter soon turned to Alexis Sanchez.
Ivan Gazidis and Bruce Buck had already agreed that the £145million Barcelona forked out for Philippe Coutinho was a spectacular piece of business.
They got on to Sanchez, named as a sub by Arsene Wenger for the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg, as guests from Arsenal and Chelsea were tucking into the pre-match meal.
Sanchez, who played the final 24 minutes of the 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge, is going to Manchester City.
When he eventually leaves — either now or at the end of the season — Arsenal will be the biggest losers.
Pep Guardiola, the manager who courted the former Barcelona forward throughout last summer, will make good on his promise to sign him.
Arsenal could let Sanchez go this month, swallowing their pride by picking up the phone to City to sell him for around half the £60m they agreed last summer.
The alternative is to keep this quarrelsome character at the Emirates, with the long shot that he suddenly splutters into life and turns it on in the second half of the season.
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Do not hold your breath.
Sanchez checked out last September, convinced that it was all done and dusted when Arsenal agreed a deal with City on transfer deadline day.
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He has never forgiven Wenger, the man who called it off with just seconds to spare, for changing his mind that night.
Wenger convinced Gunners’ chief executive Gazidis that he could get another year out of Sanchez, that he would soon recover from the setback and start turning it on again.
Gazidis went along with it, trusting Arsenal’s manager to make the right call because of his intimate knowledge of Sanchez’s personality.
They lost £30m overnight, a bigger collapse than Bitcoin.
Wenger got it hopelessly wrong, losing the respect of Sanchez just hours after telling him that he would soon be playing for City.
The Chilean forward is going through the motions, popping up with a goal or two here and there to keep everybody at the club off his case — but no more than that. Wenger’s judgment, when everybody else in the building urged him to take City’s £60m offer, is increasingly erratic.
The Gunners boss knew he would be battered if he sold his best player to help Pep’s bid for a first Premier League title.
Those fears played a part in the decision to keep him.
City’s blood has been boiling ever since, with chief executive Ferran Soriano vowing to make Arsenal pay for bad business practice by taking Sanchez for nothing in the summer.
That was certainly the plan before Gabriel Jesus damaged a knee in City’s 0-0 draw at Crystal Palace on New Year’s Eve.
Then there is the Champions League, with a favourable draw in the second round opening up the possibility of wrestling the trophy from Real Madrid.
City’s management meetings have centred on the “what if?” scenario — what if they got to a semi-final without Sanchez and were beaten by Barcelona, Real Madrid or Paris Saint-Germain over two legs?
With a season like this, there is no room for regret.
City, who play Swiss outfit Basel in the last 16, are suddenly starting to see the Champions League open up for them.
For the sake of doing business with Arsenal again, signing Sanchez for £30m-£35m in this window could make all the difference to a successful assault on Europe.
City know the Premier League is already in the bag, with the usual suspects of Manchester United, Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool and even Arsenal accepting that Pep has cracked it.
There is also the appeal of another body, a highly-motivated arrival with fresh legs for the second half of the season. Sanchez is that man.
City have looked leggy and tired in recent weeks, surviving a tough Christmas schedule before a last-minute win against Bristol City in Tuesday’s Carabao Cup semi-final first leg.
A new face, with his energy around the place and a desire to make up for lost time, is appealing to City.
They want to put the finishing touches to this side, to give them a lift at a time when they are in with a shout of winning silverware in four competitions.
The added pressure is their unbeaten run in the Premier League, with a determination at the Etihad to hammer home their advantage over the next 16 games.
Pep wants to turn the screw.
That does not help Arsenal, the club who must decide whether to sell yet another player to City.
There are plenty of players at Arsenal who will be glad to see the back of Sanchez, tired of his attitude and bitching behind the scenes.
It is still Wenger’s call but he knows the fans will be on his case again if they finish the season without Champions League football.
Whatever happens, Sanchez will soon be dining at the top table.