Arsenal: Alex Iwobi describes everybody’s fear

Alex Iwobi has stated that it would be a huge setback for Arsenal to lose Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil, as is expected summer. It would be a sign that the club is moving backwards, and that is everybody’s fear regarding the near future.

For many years, Arsenal would be playing with two hands tied behind their backs. Each and every summer, they were forced into selling an established member of the squad, from Emmanuel Adebayor to Cesc Fabregas. It was an annual ritual. However, from the moment they signed Mesut Ozil in 2013, such a desperate and down-heartening tide has been stemmed somewhat. In fact, it’s fair to say that no player has been sold that Arsene Wenger did not want to, or allow to be, sold.

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The greater ability to retain star players drove significant progress in the assembly of the squad. Suddenly, the Arsenal squad was littered with varying options, top-tier quality, and depth at almost every position. They were moving forwards.

However, the momentum that had been building in recent years is quickly coming to a halt thanks to two players: the aforementioned Ozil, and Alexis Sanchez. And that is a statement that I don’t even have to make. Here is Alex Iwobi describing how much of a setback it would be if the pair left North London this season, whether it be in January or at the end of the year, when their contracts expire:

"“When they are fit they are unstoppable. They are both capable of changing a game or a season. They have a big decision to make. But it would be a huge setback to lose them because from the stats you can see we do need them for their goals and assists. For a team like Arsenal, we need to be aiming for the top four and we need what they bring.”"

And Iwobi simply describes the fears that we, as Arsenal fans, all share. The impending losses of Ozil and Sanchez, while a blow, are not the primary issues. They are extremely good players. But they are replaceable. They are, after all, just players.

But their leaving is a sign of what was feared under the suffocating ownership of Stan Kroenke: Arsenal are a club moving backwards, unwilling to match the investment of their rivals in the transfer market, unable to keep up with the progressing movement of football, slipping back into mediocrity, rather than challenging for titles and trophies as they perhaps should be.

That has been the fears of the fan base for some time. While financial restrictions were tight, the selling of players and decimating of the squad was, although frustrating, understandable. But that is, allegedly, no longer the case. Wenger, Kroenke and Ivan Gazidis have continually claimed that there is money there to be spent.

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And yet, Arsenal face a period of frightening regression. They losing ground from those around them, and the impending departures of Ozil and Sanchez, as Iwobi alludes to his in his comments, are just further proof of that.