Arsenal suffered blunder with £35m “lion” who left for £0

Arsenal have seen a vast range of talent grace north London over the years, with Mikel Arteta looking to build his own dynasty as manager following his playing days for the club.

From Ian Wright, to the marvels of the Invincibles and those that have, and currently shine in the Emirates era, the Gunners have seen a spectrum of quality adorn the red and white, with some players more memorable than others.

Arteta is reinstating Arsenal as a driving force in the Premier League, taking the north Londoners on a title challenging journey last season where they finished just shy of treble winners Manchester City in second place.

The Spaniard’s young side showed their worth for the duration of the campaign, with Hale End graduate Bukayo Saka leading the way in terms of setting the bar for his teammates and cementing himself as the star player in the squad.

The 22-year-old claimed the prestigious PFA Young Player of the Year award for his heroics, becoming the poster boy for his country as well as his club on the big stage.

While Saka is a product of his own hard work and journey to the top with his boyhood club, the winger is in some ways comparable to others before him in terms of his contribution to the attack from the flank.

Arsenal have had some explosive wide talent over the years, not many quite as efficient in recent times as the Emirates’ “lion”, as hailed by Arsene Wenger, Alexis Sanchez.

How much did Arsenal sign Alexis Sanchez for?

Signed in the summer of 2014 from Barcelona, Sanchez’s arrival was highly celebrated by those in north London, with the Chilean boasting a hefty reputation for his performances in La Liga.

The Gunners handed Barcelona £35m for his services, with him being efficient, yet regarded as a rotational player in Catalonia, with no one aware at the time of just how integral he’d become to Arsenal.

At the time of his arrival, Wenger revealed he was “delighted” to have captured the 25-year-old’s signature on the back of his World Cup performances, lauding him as a “fantastic footballer”.

The winger scored twice in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil for Chile, on the back of his sensational campaign in La Liga, where he scored 19 goals and claimed 12 assists.

How many goals did Alexis Sanchez score for Arsenal?

There’s always a slight worry when players arrive from abroad to the Premier League, with the demands and physicality incomparable to any other league in the world.

For Alexis, it didn’t take long for him to impose himself in north London, scoring 25 goals in his debut campaign, as well as registering 12 assists in all competitions.

Alexis Sanchez Premier League record at Arsenal

Figures via Transfermarkt

The standard didn’t drop for the Chilean the season after, as he went on to reach his summit in England in the 2016/17 campaign, scoring a mammoth 30 goals in all competitions, with 24 of those coming in the Premier League.

The “explosive” forward, as dubbed by Wenger, won two FA Cups during his time with Arsenal, scoring in both finals in 2015 and 2017, showcasing just how much of a diamond he was in the capital.

Sadly for the Gunners, the highs of Alexis’ contributions to the 2016/17 campaign marked the beginning of the end of the Tocopilla-born whiz’s time representing the north Londoners, as the season after revealed a decline in form and temperament.

What happened to Alexis Sanchez?

During the summer of 2017, Manchester City had attempted to snatch Sanchez from Arsenal, with Wenger rejecting interest which was speculated to have left the Chilean upset with the decision.

During the 2017/18 campaign, the winger was dropped on some occasions for reasons assumed to be related to his behaviour, which was noticeable on the pitch by Graeme Souness who suspected there was a “divided dressing room”.

Former Gunner and club legend Thierry Henry supported Souness’ claims, pointing out the rift in the side after their away win to Crystal Palace, in which Sanchez scored two goals to secure a late win.

The Frenchman spotted a “division in the team” during the win, as the winger celebrated alone amid the rumours of his dissatisfaction with playing for Arsenal following his rejected move away.

In January, the 29-year-old finally got his move to Manchester, however signed for the Gunners’ fierce rivals Manchester United as part of a swap deal with Henrikh Mkhitaryan – the club failing to rake in a fee for the departing dynamo.

Sanchez quickly went from hero to zero at the Emirates, tarnishing his impeccable previous form with his questionable attitude and move to United, however it was Arsenal that got the last laugh, as the Chilean failed miserably at Old Trafford.

In 45 appearances for the Red Devils, the winger scored five goals, before being sent on loan to Inter Milan just a year and a half after making the switch.

It later came to light that Sanchez regretted his move to United in the instance of his first training session with the club, revealing in an Instagram video that he’d asked his agent if his contract could be terminated, so he could return to Arsenal, via Manchester Evening News.

The Chilean didn’t play again for United after his loan move to Inter, which was made permanent in 2020.

Where is Alexis Sanchez now?

Two years after his move to Milan was made permanent, Inter agreed to terminate the forward’s contract after 109 appearances and 20 goals, where he then moved on to Marseille last summer.

In Ligue 1, the 34-year-old seemed back near to his best, scoring 14 league goals in 35 appearances for the French outfit, however was released at the end of the season.

Like they were when his United career was in tatters, Inter were there once more to pick up the pieces for the ageing winger, who agreed to sign him on a one-year contract in August for the campaign ahead.

Things went from the summit to the base in a matter of months for the Chilean, who was poised to write himself into the Gunners’ folklore if he had remained loyal to the club that enabled his Premier League rise.

Alexis’ career in England seemed to begin and end with Arsenal, with his decisions relaying the harsh reality that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.