Wenger admits worries that Arsenal hitman could have joined Liverpool

Arsene Wenger pulled off one of the biggest transfer coups of the summer when he very quickly persuaded Alexis Sanchez to join Arsenal, but he has now openly admitted that the negotiations were far from simple and he was worried that Sanchez would have been the obvious replacement for Liverpool when Luis Suarez joined Barcelona.

“Sanchez, he looks like he is made for the English game,” Wenger said on ESPN. “Sanchez has settled very quickly. But Sanchez has a kind of game that is instinctive and tough.

“They (Sanchez and Suarez) have similarities. They are South Americans, they are provoking players, they go with the ball.

“They are very determined as well, both of them. They have plenty of similar attitudes.”

“I thought Liverpool was a serious candidate because they had Suarez going there (to Barcelona), so you could think that’s an easy way to do the deal but at the end of the day, the player has always the decision,” Wenger said.

“There were some other clubs that were in for him as well. The fact that today the transfers at that level take always time to get every detail right, so because it takes time, you think always that somebody else can come in. Paris St Germain … I don’t know, Bayern (Munich) … to do the deal as well.”

It would have been a disaster for Arsenal, in hindsight, if we hadn’t signed Alexis. Can you imagine if we had lost all the goals from Sanchez and Liverpool had GAINED them? Perhaps our positions in the table would be reversed?

But the fact is that WE have got Sanchez, and Liverpool are going to reget that fact tomorrow afternoon!

“To not get him was obviously bitterly disappointing,” said Brendan Rodgers.
“He’s a world class player with outstanding quality and even bigger work rate. He would have been perfect for us.
“He made his decision. The best option for him.”