Robert Pires defends Alexis Sanchez, rebuking claims the player is a ‘mercenary’

"What Alexis wanted was for Arsenal to spend money on other players"

The Alexis Sánchez transfer saga has dominated the news cycle for weeks now. The football world was certain that he was heading to Manchester City to reunite with Pep Guardiola, who coached the player at Barcelona. The in a drastic change of events it emerged the winger would be signing for Manchester United instead, with an announcement expected any moment now. Many pundits, namely Martin Keown have labelled the winger a mercenary. They have suggested he is simply following the money, and have criticised him for allowing his contract to run down at Arsenal and thus allowing his resale value to depreciate. But Robert Pires disagrees. In an interview with Chilean newspaper La Tercera, Robert Pires spoke very openly about the transfer, even suggesting that Sánchez would have been willing to stay at Arsenal. Regarding the mercenary label, Pires said:

"No, he is not a mercenary. Martin is my friend, but I don’t think you can say that. That’s football, and if City does not want Sanchez anymore, it’s their problem. And if United wants him and is willing to spend a lot of money, good for him."

Pires suggested that Sánchez would have been willing to stay at Arsenal too, had the club gone about their own transfer business differently. He said:

"But for me, Alexis wanted to stay at Arsenal. I have not talked to him, but what I see, what I smell, is that he was very good in London, very good in Arsenal. What Alexis wanted was for Arsenal to spend money on other players.”

Arsenal signed Mesut Özil in 2013 and then signed Sánchez the following summer, but since then Arsenal have spent less money on high profile players. Despite bringing in the likes of Alexandre Lacazette, there are still gaping holes in the squad and Pires implies that not addressing those problems will have played a part in Sánchez wanting to leave. Arsenal are losing a "great footballer, with a lot of quality and, above all, a winner" according to Pires. He added: "if tomorrow he goes to United, they will be very happy there.” Much has been made of Sánchez's age, with suggestions that the expensive wages United are set to pay the Chilean will not be worth it in three years' time. As a player who hit his peak at Arsenal at around 30 years old, Pires disagreed:

"I don’t care about age. The best age for a player is between 28 and 33 years. We are talking about Alexis, one of the best Chileans. He was in Barcelona and he did well. He arrived at Arsenal and he did very well. If you spend £180m on a 29-year-old player, it’s simply because it’s deserved.”

When asked what legacy Sánchez will leave at Arsenal, Pires praised his attitude on the pitch.

"Alexis reached a level that people like a lot. What the English want to see is a player fighting. That’s why people are in love with him. You can lose one, two, three, four balls, but that happens to everyone, to Cristiano and Messi. That the people in the stands see it. He is always making an effort to recover the ball. He has always given his body, his blood, to the team."

Maybe once this has blown over, Arsenal fans will share Pires' views.