Arsenal: Come On, Robert Pires, You Know Better Than That

Arsenal legend Robert Pires is making the rounds in the media circuit, but it’s not necessary to spew inconsequential updates on Alexis Sanchez.

Everyone in the world, Arsenal or not, wants to know where Alexis is going next. The Chilean, along with Mesut Ozil, need to make up their minds regarding where they want to play their football next and as such, the rumors of contract or no contract are going wild.

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Mainly for Alexis, who has become the best player in the Premier League.

Naturally, there is never going to be a shortage of former players and media moguls festering Alexis about his future. He has been fairly tight-lipped on the matter, but recently he has said that he loves it at Arsenal, loves the club and his team mates and wants the club to show faith in him.

Which is a really telling statement from him. It shows optimism. It shows hope. Alexis wants to stay, and he’s not the kind of guy who is going to say something just to say it.

And then Robert Pires got to him. Maybe I just hold Gunner legends, particularly Invincibles, in a higher standard. I have been guilty of berating Thierry Henry and his criticism of Olivier Giroud, but people say that stuff all the time.

It’s the fact that it’s Henry that makes it frustrating.

Well, Pires has gone and spoken to Alexis about his contract. Why he thought that he was going to get any great piece of information when so many others have tried is beyond me.

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Alexis wants to play his cards close to his chest and he knows that Pires is going to turn right around and say what was conversed on every TV screen and pull in numerous headlines.

It was a harmless statement. “I spoke to Alexis last week and asked him about his renewal. He told me he didn’t know, that he was only keen on playing,” he said, as quoted by ESPNFC.

But harmless is a speculative term. Now all the articles are reading the ever-promising “Alexis doesn’t know about future.”

Robert Pires had to know this was going to happen. He wasn’t going to get anything from Alexis but he had to report something, because that’s what retired players do. Now all that optimism is getting punched in the side by this “he doesn’t know!” scare.

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For what it’s worth, let’s pretend like Alexis saying he was happy with Arsenal was the last thing he said. This “I don’t know” stuff is inconsequential.