Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger expects forward Alexis Sanchez and midfielder Mesut Ozil to stay at the club in the January transfer window.
The contracts of both players expire at the end of the season.
Asked if his gut feeling is that the pair will stay, Wenger replied: “Yes, of course.”
The Frenchman also said it is in England midfielder Jack Wilshere’s “best interest” to remain with the Gunners.
Wenger added: “I will absolutely fight for him to stay here because he’s a top-quality player.”
The 25-year-old has struggled with injuries since making his Arsenal debut in 2008 and spent the 2016-17 campaign on loan at Bournemouth.
He has yet to make a Premier League start this season.
Both Sanchez and Ozil are key figures for Wenger.
Chile forward Sanchez, who arrived in 2014 from Barcelona, has scored 56 goals in 113 appearances, while Germany international Ozil has produced 45 assists since his debut in September 2013, more than any other Premier League player.
Wenger said: “As long as they are here they give their best for the club. In my head, they stay until the end of the season. Unless something unbelievable happens I don’t see that changing.”
Asked if they will remain beyond the end of the 2017-18 campaign, he added: “I am not the only one to decide that. They have to decide that as well.”
COMMENTS