Manager Arsene Wenger fielded an entirely anticipated question in his Australian press conference the other day – what will happen to Olivier Giroud and Alexis Sanchez.
With a number of players continually linked away, it’s not just Mesut Ozil, Olivier Giroud and Alexis Sanchez taking headlines, Lucas Perez has had his own share of speculation this summer as well.
Assuming the Official Site are saving Ozil questions for another day, Wenger’s quotes focus in on Giroud and Sanchez so beginning with Alexis, asked if he’d stay, he responded by making light of it.
‘That`s a question I didn`t expect today! The pressure starts again – the first press conference and we are there! We`ll see. The players have contracts and we expect them to respect their contracts, and that`s what we want. It`s a continuity of what I said at the end of last season. That`s what we will do.’
Pushed on how difficult it was to keep somebody in the final year of their contract, Wenger played the options game when it came to Alexis as of course there is an extension offer on the table.
‘It is just important to make up your mind. The easiest way to manage a player in the final year of their contract is in his interest to do as well as he can. Nobody knows today if Alexis will be in the final year of his contract this season, because he can extend as well with us at the start of the season or during the season, so it is not necessarily the last year of his contract at Arsenal Football Club.’
Moving onto Giroud with playing time a known concern for the player, Wenger went on to say that he anticipates him staying because his qualities are obvious to all.
‘We extended his contract last year so our resolution is to keep him here, because we extended his contract. He has a great value to the squad and I think as well he is a great lover of the club. He loves the club and has always been very determined to stay.’
Asked generally about keeping all of our strikers.
‘I don`t know yet. It`s always the same problem – when you have only one striker, people ask why you don`t buy another one. When you have two or three, they say that they will be unhappy because you have too much competition. That`s part of the job. We are in a job where we are very lucky to do what we love but as well we have chosen a competitive job, that means the players have to accept competition and my decisions as well, unfortunately!’
