Arsenal, like every other club in the English Premier League, benefitted by the sale of Luis Suárez by Liverpool to Barcelona. Suárez was clearly the best player in the EPL last season and nearly led Liverpool to the title in what was supposed to be a transition year for the Reds to merely return to relevance.
With the acquisition of Suárez, Barcelona would be forced to sell Alexis Sánchez and the 25-year-old Chilean clearly preferred a move to London to play for Arsenal over Merseyside, leading to a £30 million transfer. The valuation was undoubtedly low, particularly when strong World Cup performances typically result in an unjustified gold rush.
Arsenal has no shortage of attacking midfielders with world-class skill and this feels like a bit of duplication on a certain level, but they have been lacking a physical specimen with the strength and pace of Alexis. Is this move merely another example of Arsène Wenger continuing to fidget for improvement on the margins of Arsenal’s central identity, or does Alexis finally make the masterpiece complete?
Alexis can potentially play a central striker role in a similar way to how Wenger converted Thierry Henry and Robin van Persie, but it would be a makeshift solution at best. Arsenal has been linked to Luis Suárez, Mario Mand