Arsenal superstar Alexis Sanchez is only the 15th best-paid player in the Premier League on £130,000 a week (while Paul Pogba is on £290,000)

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It's not about the money, insisted Arsene Wenger this week. Sometimes, though, it is.

Arsenal's manager was talking about Alexis Sanchez, the 27-year-old who is on £130,000 per week but wants that figure to rise north of £200,000.

It makes him the 15th best-paid player in the Premier League ‒ way off Paul Pogba, Sergio Aguero, Eden Hazard, etc ‒ but Arsenal are reluctant to break the bank.

Alexis Sanchez is on £130,000 per week but Arsenal want to tie him down to a new deal

Sanchez shakes hands with Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger on Tuesday night in Basle

Arsenal star Sanchez is currently the 15th best-paid player in the Premier League

They were stunned when their superstar used an astonishing £400,000-a-week offer from the Chinese Super League in talks. Sanchez wanted to get the north London club to smash their wage structure for him.

Over in China, clubs are willing to pay him £260,000 per week after tax. 

Over here, Sanchez is on £130,000, and still an extra £40,000 per week off being in the top 10 for wages in England.

When a contract gets into its final 18 months, such as Sanchez's is, it is a time when the club decides whether to tie them down to a new deal.

Arsenal want to ‒ Sanchez is the Premier League's joint-top goalscorer this season ‒ and it is now a priority to make sure he is paid on par with the other superstars.

Paul Pogba is paid £290,000 per week on a contract that lasts until 2021, with a further year's option at Manchester United. 

Sergio Aguero is on £240,000 at Manchester City, and Yaya Toure is on £220,000. There's also Eden Hazard on £200,000 at Chelsea.

You have to go past David De Gea on £185,000, Raheem Sterling on £180,000 and Cesc Fabregas on £170,000 before you get to Sanchez in 15th.

Arsenal star Sanchez has received an astonishing mega-money offer from China

Sanchez starred in Basle on Tuesday night in the Champions League and has 13 goals so far this season, his first as an orthodox centre forward. 

What Wenger said about wages was admirable but, for someone of such importance to Arsenal as Sanchez, it could be time to get out the chequebook.

'The luxury of the modern game means it should not only be about the money,' Wenger said this week. 

Chelsea star Eden Hazard is currently paid £200,000 per week at Stamford Bridge

Paul Pogba is the best-paid player in the Premier League on £290,000 per week

Manchester City's star striker Sergio Aguero is currently on £240,000 per week 

Yaya Toure (pictured coming on as a substitute on Saturday) is paid £220,000 per week

'Because the players, wherever they play, make good money at this level. I believe, personally — maybe I am a bit naive — that it's more about getting to meet the player's needs.

'The way the club has values, the way the club has ambition, the way the club respects the players.

'For me, that is more important nowadays and an important ingredient for every player to consider. The money is good everywhere.' 

It's good, but it can be better, and thanks to the offers from China, Sanchez knows that.