Arsene Wenger has admitted he believes Alexis Sanchez will probably leave Arsenal next summer.
The Chile international has less than 12 months remaining on his contract leading to intense speculation that he will be depart the Emirates this summer.
Manchester City and Bayern Munich are the two clubs most consistently linked with the 29-year-old, with the former, due to Pep Guardiola’s presence, understood to appeal to Sanchez.
Wenger has been adamant that Sanchez will not be sold, saying last week that the forward will ‘respect’ his contract.
There is hope at Arsenal that Sanchez might be convinced to sign a new deal, however Wenger has admitted he doesn’t expect that to happen.
In an interview with SFR Sport Wenger said that while his ‘firm intention’ is that Sanchez remains, he was ‘not super optimistic’ that he will sign a new contract.
‘In the short term he will remain an Arsenal player,’ said the Arsenal manager.
‘Whether we manage to get him to sign an extension or not… we have so far not been able to.’
‘On that level I am not super optimistic.
‘We have the firm intention not to sell him.’
If Arsenal fail to get Sanchez to commit, he will leave for free next summer.
Were the Gunners to sell Sanchez before the close of the current transfer window they could command a fee in the region of £50million.
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