Arsenal: Arsene Wenger’s Alexis Sanchez hope far more than that

Arsene Wenger has stated that Alexis Sanchez will return to Arsenal in his best form. Such hopes and expectations, however, a far more than that; they are a necessity.

To say Arsenal have started the season poorly would be a huge and grave understatement. If they were to lose against Bournemouth on Saturday and results elsewhere went against them (a rather plausible Brighton win over West Brom), they would end the weekend in the relegation zone with just one win from four games.

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For a club of Arsenal’s stature, investment and expectation, that is utterly unacceptable and scuppers their title hopes from the get go. They are in need of a new lease of life, a surge of enthusiasm.

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Thankfully for the Gunners, they welcome Alexis Sanchez back into the fold — he did feature against Liverpool before the international break but was clearly lacking full fitness and match sharpness. The question, then, is in what state will Sanchez be. After a tumultuous summer where uncertainty has reigned, a dramatic deadline day where he perhaps presumed that his future would lie in Manchester, and an international break that saw Chile lose again, thrusting their World Cup hopes into great danger, there are several reasons for thinking that he will not be at his best. Arsene Wenger, though, is not so convinced. Speaking in his pre-match conference, Wenger praised Sanchez’s mentality, revealing that he hoped he would return to his best form quickly:

"“I have no doubt about Alexis’ mind and mentality. He needs to come back to full fitness, what he was not at Liverpool. He is strong mentally and hopefully will very quickly be back to his best. The transfer market is over, there was a lot going on. It’s very difficult to speak about because Lemar is now at Monaco and has to focus there, Sanchez is here and his focus is here.”"

Such hopes are certainly shared by the fan base. However, hope is not good enough. Arsenal’s squad, the feeling around the club and their struggles require Sanchez at his best. He cannot return to the club unmotivated, disillusioned or unfit.

Thanks to a negligent summer where the only recruitment that was done was the early additions of Alexandre Lacazette and Sead Kolasinac, there are limited options of real quality and influence in the squad, especially in attacking and midfield areas.

It would be a far from secure situation to rely on the likes of Alex Iwobi, Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck to break down Bournemouth. They are good players in their own right. But they do not have the same creative and goalscoring influence that Sanchez inspires.

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Sanchez, at his best, is a player far and above the rest in this Arsenal squad. But the question of whether he will be at his best is one that only time will answer. For the sake of the team, it is vital that he is.