Arsenal: Alienated Alexis Sanchez is way past point of no return

Alexis Sanchez has alienated himself from his teammates, the fans, and Arsenal football as a whole. He is way past the point of no return now; this saga needs to come to a swift and satisfactory conclusion.

When Alexis Sanchez scored against Crystal Palace midway through the festive fixtures, only half, or so, of his Arsenal teammates celebrated with him. It was Thierry Henry who actually highlighted the issue after the match, questioning whether there was a rift within the squad. It seems as though he was right.

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I usually do not pay much attention to these type of developments — player’s body language, social media interactions and the like. But in this case, I felt there was something to this. Sanchez is a boisterous, prickly character. There had been prior reports of bust-ups in training. He was clearly pining for an exit. Something, I guess, had to give.

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And now, just a few weeks down the road and Sanchez inching his way towards an exit with Manchester United his most likely destination, which there are 400,000 reasons a week to be so, those rifts have reportedly only grown. Here is an extract from a report from the London Evening Standard that is particularly interesting:

"“Standard Sport understands that many players have grown weary of the Sanchez saga dragging on and want a resolution this week. It is believed Sanchez has become an increasingly divisive figure as he continues to agitate for a transfer.”"

According to this piece of information, Arsene Wenger is acutely aware of the issues that have arisen between Sanchez and his teammates. There have been certain rumours naming Laurent Koscielny as the most unhappy and unsettled by Sanchez’s behaviour.

Koscielny is the team captain when Per Mertesacker is not playing, is one of the undoubted leaders in the squad, and is one of the longest-serving players, especially now that Theo Walcott is on his way to Everton. He is in a position to be able to challenge Sanchez on his behaviour and for others to align themselves with his thinking.

More than just the players, though, Wenger seems to have had enough of the Chilean. He was more than willing to drop him against Chelsea and Bournemouth, and is quite insistent on replacing him now that he is ostensibly departing. The fans, also, have started to turn on Alexis, questioning his character, his commitment to the club, and the way that he has handled the situation. They are certainly fair criticisms.

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Alexis has now alienated himself from his teammates, his manager, his fans, and the club. It is difficult to see how he can return after all of this. In fact, the point of return has long gone. He is so far the other side that he can hardly see it. That may not be a bad thing.