Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger hints at reason star duo Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil WON’T sign a new contract at the club
ARSENAL boss Arsene Wenger has hinted at the main reason star duo Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil WON'T sign a new contract at the club.
The Gunners boss, 67, blames players expecting extortionate wages due to "inflation" for a number of Premier League stars running down old deals.
Both Sanchez and Ozil are both set to leave on a free next summer after talks regarding a new contract stalled.
On the issue, Wenger told the Arsenal magazine: “There’s a big inflation that means most of the clubs have two situations with players who go to the end of the contract.
“There are players who do not want to renew and players who expect higher wages so don't want to sign the contract because they expect huge wages due to the inflation.
"So that results in more and more players going to the end of their contracts.
“This year in the Premier League we have 107 players going into the last year of their contracts, that’s the first time we've seen that.
“There are about 500 players in the Premier League, that means 20 per cent of the players are going into the final year of their contract, for different reasons, for many reasons.
"But one of them is that the inflation rate is so quick and so high that the expectation level [for wages] is very high.”
Sanchez was pursued all summer by Manchester City, with the Gunners refusing to budge on a potential deal.
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However, with the Chilean forward's deal set to end in June 2018, he will be available to leave for nothing.
Reports suggest City boss Pep Guardiola could launch a cut-price £20million swoop for Sanchez in January.
Meanwhile, Ozil is another star expecting a bigger pay-day than being offered at Arsenal and is set to walk away from the Emirates in July.
