Arsenal: 'Media imagination' remains chief fuel behind Alexis Sanchez exit

Arsenal won’t be making any headway with Alexis Sanchez until they return from their preseason tour, which is a feeding frenzy for the media.

Arsenal entered their preseason tour leaving the entire Alexis Sanchez contract saga for a later date. All summer it has been a feeding frenzy, with anything that Alexis says or does being taken entirely out of context and applied to fit the narrative that is being fed to readers.

To be fair, the Chilean seemed less than enthusiastic when he made his remarks about having made his decision and simply ‘waiting’ on Arsenal to reply. That doesn’t necessarily sound like a good thing, but as I have pointed out in previous articles, it doesn’t clearly mean a bad thing either.

What if the reply he is waiting on is in response to a contract Alexis wants to have approved by the club? Something with release clauses should the club not reach certain heights, etc.? That still sounds to me like the most plausible concept.

But now, since Alexis was “spotted” in Paris, he must certainly be moving to PSG, right? Or maybe he was just visiting a beautiful city. Which could never be the case. Everything has to be underhanded.

And Arsene Wenger has described it perfectly. Naturally, he was again questioned about Alexis, this time specifically about if he would be joining PSG and Le Prof attributed it all to “media imagination.”

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Hard to think of a better way to describe it. Media imagination has been the chief fuel propelling the fears of Alexis leaving. Neither Pep Guardiola nor Arsene Wenger have hinted at anything of the sort.

And sure, Wenger has said the things about “x player is absolutely not leaving” before, but never as clearly and often as he has with Alexis.

It’s understandable to be nervous that Alexis might leave. He wants the very best and that certainly isn’t in the Europa League. But Alexandre Lacazette also said he had to play in the Champions League and look where he is now.

It doesn’t mean he has to play there tomorrow. It just means that is where he wants to be.

The media is going to keep regurgitating every Alexis word and action as some form of proof one way or another. That’s just part of the byproduct of having a superstar of his caliber on the team.

Next: 5 Things We Learned Against Chelsea

But in the end, the only thing we can do is wait. Fret if you’d like, I won’t stop you, but the media’s imagination can be a nasty thing, and I don’t find it worth stressing over.

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Arsenal: ‘Media imagination’ remains chief fuel behind Alexis Sanchez exit

By Josh Sippie | Jul 23, 2017

Arsenal won’t be making any headway with Alexis Sanchez until they return from their preseason tour, which is a feeding frenzy for the media.

More from Pain in the Arsenal