Arsenal: Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil can play for exits all they like

Emmanuel Petit has questioned whether Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil are playing well because they are pining for an Arsenal exit. Well, even if that is true, they can do that all they like.

Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez will almost certainly leave Arsenal. That is a sad statement to make. But it is also true. Or, at least, it is most likely to be true. That is often what transpires when players’ contracts are allowed to run down to the final year of their contracts.

Arsene Wenger, though, has protested that both Ozil and Sanchez will benefit from being on a shorter contract, as he sees the threat of leaving as an added incentive for those players to play to the best of their ability.

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And, coincidentally, even if he doesn’t mean it as a positive, but, rather, as a negative effect of wanting away from their current club, Emmanuel Petit agrees with him. Speaking after the Gunners’ recent good form, despite the loss to Manchester United on Saturday, that has, in large part, been inspired by the pair, Petit questioned whether their ostensible commitment was merely a result of trying to sell themselves, rather than as any genuine feeling to the club itself:

"“Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil are coming back to the way they should be playing for Arsene Wenger.It’s great news for Arsenal that they’ve returned to form, but is that just because the transfer window is around the corner? Who knows if they still want to leave? I really hope they remain at the club but, if they do, they need to show the same commitment to help Arsenal to a Champions League spot.”"

Petit is probably right, at least to some extent. Both Sanchez and Ozil realise that they will be able to dictate their destination at the end of the season. That is a luxury that few players have, given that it is up to their club to accept an offer that they themselves find acceptable. And so it makes sense for them to want to sell themselves as attractively as possible.

In doing so, they are helping the team. While it would be much nicer to have players who genuinely cared for the club playing, sometimes, an element of pragmatism must reign. And in this case, it is providing some motivation to players who would otherwise be easily distracted from fully focusing on their best football.

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If by playing their best because they want to leave, Arsenal qualify for next season’s Champions League, then I am all for it. Ozil and Sanchez should love the club. Every player should love his club. But the reality is something different, and sometimes, a more contrived and manufactured motivation must be applied. In this case, it is the threat of a departure, and it’s working.

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