Arsenal refuse to sell Alexis Sanchez despite his contract nearing expiry... so, is this the start of a new trend as prize money and TV cash outweigh the value of star players?

• e-mail

Arsenal fans have long complained about the 'brain drain' under Arsene Wenger in which the club's top players from Thierry Henry to Robin van Persie have been sold prematurely for financial reasons.

But in 2017 there seems to be a sea change in the Gunners' mentality with Alexis Sanchez being told he will have to run his contract down before being allowed to join a rival like Manchester City.

It's a bold and radical step which not only underlines a new Arsenal policy but also indicates that the financial gains on the pitch can be just as great as receiving a hefty transfer fee.

Arsene Wenger has insisted there is no chance of the club selling Alexis Sanchez this summer

Wenger says Sanchez must stay and lead his side back into the Champions League

Sanchez fires off the champagne following Arsenal's FA Cup final victory over Chelsea

Chelsea collected £150million for winning the Premier League title last season, three times what Arsenal could probably get for Sanchez with the Chilean having just a year left on his contract.

Of course, there is no guarantee Arsenal can win the Premier League with Sanchez next season. But Wenger probably knows without Sanchez, they definitely won't and the £52million investment in striker Alexandre Lacazette will be a waste.

Do Arsenal have a history of holding players to their contract?

No, quite the opposite. For more than a decade, the £500m spent on The Emirates Stadium and its former home, now Highbury Square, has been used as a reason to sell players before their contracts ended. It started with Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry, and later Gael Clichy, Samir Nasri, Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor went to Manchester City to benefit Arsenal by £70m.

The move that particularly angered Arsenal fans was seeing Van Persie leave for Manchester United in 2012. The Dutchman had a year left on his contract, as Sanchez does now, but rather than keep him for an extra season and eventually lose him for nothing, Arsenal sold RVP for £24million and he won the title for United the following season.

Robin van Persie is a prime example of Arsenal selling a player to avoid losing them for nothing

Wenger discussed Sanchez's future during a press conference in Shanghai this week

Will Wenger do the same with Alexis?

Not if you believe what he's saying. The Frenchman has taken a strong stance on Sanchez who has clearly been courted heavily by Manchester City and PSG and also attracted past interest from Chelsea and Bayern Munich. 'The decision is not to sell,' said Wenger this week on the club's pre-season tour of China.

What has changed then?

The criticism about Arsenal putting finance before football glory has haunted Wenger in the 13 years since his last Premier League title. He isn't getting any younger and knows there were many supporters who didn't want him to sign a new two-year contract this summer. The only way he is going to win them around is by genuinely challenging for the Premier League title and Champions League, at the age of 67, Wenger has to think about here and now for Arsenal, rather than long term.

The stadium is paid for now so that excuse has gone, and the prize money for winning trophies is so great it's worth sacrificing a huge transfer fee even if Sanchez leaves for nothing in a year's time.

The prize money alone for winning the Premier League is around £40m and you can quadruple that when you take into account the cut of television money and future Champions League earnings.

Arsenal have added Lacazette to Sanchez, Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey and Granit Xhaka and Wenger wants to end his incredible career with the biggest trophies. Imagine if he cashed in on Sanchez and next May the Chilean was parading the Premier League with City. Wenger's legacy would be seriously tarnished.

Sanchez is not with the Arsenal squad in China as he enjoys a post-season break

He looked cheerful on a private jet with close family members this week

Sanchez has been valued in the £50m-£60m range while Premier League winners get £40m

Has this situation happened before where clubs demand big players honour contracts to the end?

Not quite like this. Arsenal could be seen as pioneers over Sanchez. There have been big Bosman deals in the past all the way back to Sol Campbell and Steve McManaman but that's normally been because the players have wanted to run the contracts down because they could earn more as free agents.

Traditionally, clubs have tried to cash in when players have just a year left. Everton manager Ronald Koeman made his position on Ross Barkley clear a few weeks ago. 'Either he accepts the contract or we sell the player.'

Clubs have stopped superstar players from leaving before but it's usually only temporary and they've always received a transfer fee in the end. Liverpool and Luis Suarez springs to mind, ditto Manchester United and Cristiano Ronaldo.

When Florent Malouda told Roman Abramovich he would stay at Chelsea until the end of his contract, therefore preventing The Blues from collecting a transfer fee, he had to spend the final year of his deal on the sidelines and wasn't considered for selection.

Arsenal did keep Bacary Sagna until his contract ended in 2014 but his transfer valuation would have been a small percentage of the £50m or £60m Arsenal will lose out on by keeping Sanchez for next season.

Sol Campbell is an example of a player who ran his contract down to join Arsenal from Spurs