Martin Keown: 'Arsene Wenger will want to keep Alexis Sanchez'

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 08 July 2017

Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown is confident that Arsene Wenger wants to keep Alexis Sanchez at the club and will not sanction a move to a Premier League rival.

Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown has said that he believes Arsene Wenger will want to keep Alexis Sanchez at the club this summer.

The Gunners have already signed Alexandre Lacazette and Sead Kolasinac during the current transfer window, but the futures of both Sanchez and Mesut Ozil remain uncertain as they approach the final year of their contracts.

Manchester City have been strongly linked with a move for Sanchez, but Keown believes that Wenger will no longer allow key players to join their Premier League rivals and also backed Sanchez to continue playing at his usual level wherever he ends up next season.

"Sanchez will be the one now which everyone talks about - and let's see how Arsene Wenger handles that. [Wenger] has his contract [extension], and I don't think Wenger will be in any rush, he will want to keep the player," Keown told PA.

"I think [Sanchez] is going to play, wherever he is, I don't think he is the sort of lad who will down tools. Wenger has two years to go now on his contract at Arsenal, and he will want that time spent with the best possible players - Sanchez is one of Europe's best players.

"Arsene Wenger is a little bit different to a lot of the managers I played under, and he does have a special bond with his players. [Robin] van Persie had a heart-to-heart [talk] with Wenger, and he let him go. I feel this time around, he will not be letting [Sanchez] or any of his other players go that he does not want to let go, and that is all time-linked to how long he has got left with Arsenal."

Arsenal are also understood to be chasing AS Monaco winger Thomas Lemar.