Arsene Wenger left exposed by Alexis Sanchez sale to Manchester United

When Manchester United last bought a player from Arsenal, then manager Alex Ferguson complimented counterpart Arsene Wenger on the hard bargain he drove in selling striker Robin van Persie, saying the Frenchman “could run a poker school in Govan”.

That reference to the raw end of Glasgow where Ferguson grew up suggested Wenger had extracted the maximum possible from a difficult situation in ensuring United paid the then hefty sum of 24 million pounds ($33.50 million) for the Dutch striker.

Five and a half years on and it is unlikely Wenger will receive any pats on the back for his part in Alexis Sanchez’s exit from Arsenal, a move that all but confirms how far the London club have fallen behind the Premier League powerhouses.

While Van Persie departed a year before his contract expired after, like 29-year-old Sanchez, rejecting a new deal, the Chilean has followed the same road for a knockdown price six months before he could walk out of the club for nothing.

Theo Walcott, another mainstay of the Wenger years, joined Everton last week, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is starring for Liverpool after threatening to run down his contract last year, while Jack Wilshere and Mesut Ozil can leave The Emirates …read more