Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand believes that Alexis Sanchez is the talisman that leads Arsenal and other players look up to for inspiration.
Sanchez has had a superb start to the new season with Arsenal as he’s in top form and scored five goals in just six appearances.
The Chilean forward has always played out wide for the Gunners since his arrival from Barcelona in 2014 but he has been used as a lone striker, or a false nine, in parts this season and shone for Arsene Wenger’s side.
Against Chelsea at the weekend, he was all over the place and the Blues could not cope with him, leading Rio Ferdinand to call him the “talisman” that runs the Arsenal side.
“Sanchez is the catalyst, the talisman they feed off for inspiration. He is the one that sets the tone for Arsenal now,” Ferdinand wrote in the Evening Standard.
“Sanchez has taken it by the scruff of the neck and he runs that team. If they don’t start well, he is the one that will have the influence to get them back in the game. We saw at the weekend, the way he hunts to get the ball back, there are not many strikers that can do that from 20 yards away and still nick the ball off the centre-half and score.”
Sanchez has scored 47 goals in 100 total appearances for Arsenal since arriving from Barcelona. It is a record extremely close to Thierry Henry’s, as the Frenchman hit 48 goals in his first century of games.
While Sanchez is unlikely to ever surpass Henry’s incredible figure of 228 goals, he is mirroring the impact he once had on the side in North London.
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