Arsenal: Selling Mesut Ozil And Alexis Sanchez Beneficial?

Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil were again anonymous in a big game on Saturday. Could Arsenal selling them in the summer be beneficial?

The prevailing storyline of Arsenal’s season has undoubtedly been the long-term futures of their manager and many of their star players – primarily the dynamic duo of Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez, two players who have inspired the resurgence that the club has enjoyed in recent years.

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The summer of 2013 was a significant one for Arsene Wenger. Just a year after the bitterly disappointing departure of Robin van Persie, a year in which Wenger had to suffer through the success of the flying Dutchman in a scintillating Manchester United side, giving his old adversary a fitting send off, Wenger decided to break the club transfer record by some margin.

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Ozil was signed on transfer deadline day for a fee north of £40 million. It was the first time that Arsenal had ever broken the £30 million barrier for an incoming player. Since then, Sanchez has also been added for significant money, as has Shkodran Mustafi and Granit Xhaka. As such, the squad is the strongest that it has been for many many years.

The task that many, myself included, believed most important entering this season, then, was building continuity within the squad by signing many of the key contributors to long-term deals. That has been difficult to do and now, after Chelsea dismantled the North London club thanks to their very own superstar, Eden Hazard, with both Ozil and Sanchez wholly anonymous for much of the game, I am beginning to question whether selling them in the summer may be the best avenue to take.

For Ozil especially, performing in the big games has been an issue. Just this season, he was missing in the away loss to Manchester City, was not his probing self in the consecutive draws with Spurs and Manchester United and now, was utterly unable to forge a foothold in the game up against a stifling Chelsea midfield.

Moreover, Sanchez was brilliantly quietened by the Blues on Saturday. The trio of David Luiz, Gary Cahill and Cesar Azpilicueta were excellent, disciplined in their positioning and strong and agile enough to nick tackles in on a regular basis.

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Contrast Ozil and Sanchez’s relative absence to the game-changing Eden Hazard. The Belgian was utterly magnificent, both in creating and the scoring a beautifully crafted solo goal that all but ended the tie, and in his overall play. Hazard, when the pressure was on, performed at his very best. Sanchez and Ozil did not, and maybe, just maybe, Arsenal would be wise to bank the cash and invest elsewhere.