Arsenal: Alexis Sanchez January swap has success written all over it

Arsenal always hits a bit of a stumbling around the turn of the new year, which is why swapping Alexis Sanchez in January is the key to Premier League success.

Arsenal tried to swap out Alexis Sanchez for Thomas Lemar as the transfer window buzzer hit zero, but poor planning led to the move falling through and everyone stayed put. The Gunners retained their want-away star and have yet to grant him a return to the starting XI following a niggling “injury.”

Since the summer transfer window is only three weeks behind us, it only makes sense that we should start thinking about the next possible opportunity to offload the Chilean superstar so that we can somehow avoid losing him for free next summer.

January has never been a time of big business for the Gunners. The biggest signings they have made in the winter window in recent seasons are Mohamed Elneny and Kim Kallstrom. Not exactly game changers there.

And on a related note, the Gunners always hit that same death spiral around the turn of the New Year.

They say that doing the same thing and expecting a result is technically insanity, so wouldn’t it stand to reason that continuing to avoid big business in January is insanity?

That being the case, perhaps shaking things up with a major sale and coinciding major arrival would be the spark that the Gunners need to avoid their usual pitfall.

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If we already know that Alexis is going to leave, all lingering hesitation should be decided by then. Any monetary return would be an extraordinary turn of events, especially as money seemed to be an issue this past summer.

And while Thomas Lemar may not be available in the winter, we can always save the move for him for the summer and move for another supposed summer target in January – Julian Draxler.

Mundo Deportivo is reporting that the German, along with handfuls of team mates, may well be available in January as PSG clear house following their monetarily enormous summer spending spree.

Draxler has been seeing inconsistent playing time with the Parisian giants since Neymar and Kylian Mbappe arrived and by the time January rolls around, he may be fed up with the lack of opportunity. At just 23 years of age, he needs to be a consistent member of a prominent starting XI and PSG are not going to provide that for him.

Arsenal will. Alexis will be gone and Mesut Ozil looks like he will be next, meaning that factoring Draxler in in January and Lemar in in the summer solves 90% of the problems that will arise with the departure of the two Arsenal superstars.

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Plus, the infusion in January should kick-start the Gunners competitive edge and help them to overcome their usual winter bout of suckage.

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