Arsène Wenger continues to be dogged by questions, from the future of Alexis Sánchez to his side’s absence from the Champions League. But as the Arsenal manager prepares for a Wembley curtain raiser, he is still standing and still speaking his mind, including to Antonio Conte.
Going into the Community Shield, Wenger has had positive words for the Chelsea manager, his Premier League title win and Stamford Bridge’s summer recruitment. But the Frenchman hedged his praise, too, and in typically oblique fashion observed that greater challenges lie ahead, challenges he has seen before.
“Chelsea came out of a very average season and he got them to win the title, to be champions even after having a bad start,” Wenger said of Conte. “That shows he is not only mentally strong but is intelligent enough to address the problems when he has some. He looks to me to be a real competitor as well.
“I expect them to fight again for the championship but they have more competition this year and last season they didn’t play in Europe. They will certainly be dangerous again but they will have more distractions.”
Wenger also complimented Chelsea’s new signings Tiemoué Bakayoko and Álvaro Morata, but observed they are replacements for the departing Nemanja Matic and Diego Costa rather than additions to the squad. “Time will decide if they are stronger,” he said. “It looks like they have kept the basis of their squad. They’ve added Bakayoko who’s a very strong player, strong ball winner, similar to Matic. They have replaced Costa with Morata. Morata is maybe less a goalscorer than Costa but he can provide and score as well.”
Arsenal have the distraction of the Europa League to look forward to. Wenger stressed his priority will be the Premier League this season but teased that this would have been the case even had they qualified for the Champions League. “It is a good opportunity for us to focus on the Premier League,” he said. “The Premier League has taken over from the Champions League interest-wise. Sometimes in the group stage we rested players to prepare for the next league game as every match is so difficult. I would have loved to play in it but we have to deal with reality and we are not in it.”
As for the other continuing trauma, Wenger has taken a firm stand on where Sánchez will be playing this season. He expects the Chilean to stay and warns that the kind of stand-off that has been going on over the player’s contract will only become more common as wages and transfer fees continue to spiral.
“I believe Sánchez will be motivated to play for Arsenal because of his character. He loves so much the game and what he does. Football passes quickly in your life so enjoy every single moment,” he said. “But he is not the only one in this position; we have Özil as well, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Gibbs, Wilshere … there are many. I warn you that we will see that situation more and more.
“It will happen for one single reason: because the inflation rate is so high the agent will speculate on very high wages when you start to negotiate. At other times the clubs will not necessarily encourage the players.
“There are transfers now where you buy players who are just players for £50m. The clubs will not want to pay this amount for normal players and will want to wait until a player is free.”