Arsenal: No, Alexis Sanchez is not a good idea

Marc Overmars has stated that Alexis Sanchez could return to Arsenal. But there is one thing that he is not considering: it would be an utterly terrible idea.

Alexis Sanchez is enduring a torrid time at Manchester United. And that is leading some to utter madness as they suggest that he should return to Arsenal, where he made his name in the Premier League after a 2014 transfer.

Find the latest episode of the Pain in the Arsenal Podcast here — Huddersfield, abuse and a difficult question

Speaking to Chile Radio Station, ADN Deportes, former Gooner and reported target of the vacant technical director role Marc Overmars claimed that Sanchez could return to his former club:

"“I have great respect for Alexis, because he did extremely well in Arsenal, but I do not know if it was a good decision to leave <…> Arsene Wenger arrived a year before me, Dennis Bergkamp made a big impression England. It was a fantastic time, I think we changed the history of the club a bit. These type of players were very important for Arsenal, because that’s where they take you to focus, after Alexis, Arsenal tried to sign another player like that, but he was not given, so he could go back to Arsenal.”"

Now, very simply, I am going to lay out three reasons as to why Alexis returning to north London would be an absolutely terrible idea. Not all of them are necessarily true, but, collectively, they point to how shocking a proposition this truly is.

1. Sanchez is past it – Alexis Sanchez has looked like a shell of his former self for the past year or so. He does not play with the same ferociousness that made him such a nuisance at the Emirates, he has scored only five goals in 37 matches since making the move north, and has played a whole lot of minutes throughout his career, domestically and internationally. He is also the wrong side of 30 is looking increasingly slow. That is not the kind of player you want to be signing.

2. Sanchez is expensive – Although Alexis Sanchez may not command a major transfer fee with United likely keen to offload his eye-watering wages, if the Gunners were to take him on, they would also then have to pay those very wages that a much richer club are desperate to get rid of. Given their current financial difficulties having just let Aaron Ramsey walk out for nothing because of an inability to pay him, handing a reported £400,000-a-week to a bygone of the former era might not be the smartest move.

3. Sanchez is old – Alexis Sanchez is 30 years old. The age of the attackers already at the Emirates is a concern anyway. Mesut Ozil, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Henrikh Mkhitaryan are all 30 or reaching 30. Alexandre Lacazette will turn 28 this summer. All these players will need to be replaced. They offer limited resale value and little longevity. Adding another to the mix is stupid.

So yes, Overmars may think that Sanchez could return to the Gunners, but he is forgetting one crucial point: It is an utterly terrible idea.