Is Alexis Sanchez trying to force a move out of Arsenal?
That is the question that an increasing number of concerned Arsenal fans are asking themselves and each other at the moment. The Chilean appears to have fallen out with Arsene Wenger and was even pictured sniggering on the bench as his team-mates were thrashed and humiliated by Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
Sanchez is out of contract in 2018, so if he wants to leave he'll be well aware that now is the opportunity to strong arm the club into letting him do so. If he refuses to sign an extension he can walk for free next summer, leaving the Gunners severely out of pocket.
A set of disturbing statistics presented by Sky Sports have suggested that Sanchez is no longer trying as hard as was, even just a few short months ago, in an Arsenal shirt.
This is a player who could rival the Duracell bunny for energy and enthusiasm. He would run all day long, always get into the best positions in lightning quick speed, pressure defenders into mistakes and reap the rewards for his team. Now, that just doesn't seem to be the case.
Sanchez is yet to run more than 10km in a Premier League game this season. Mesut Ozil, a player often criticised for his lazy, languid style, has run that far on 14 occasions, while Olivier Giroud has also topped 10km every time he's played a full 90 minutes.
His willingness to run has dipped over time, too. In November and earlier, the fan favourire was averaging 9.31km per game. From December onwards that figure has dropped to 8.77km per game. His average number of sprints per game is also down from 59.5 to 55.
Against Chelsea recently, Sanchez only put in 46 'high intensity' sprints, a game when his running was needed the most in order to disrupt the Premier League leaders.
It's a worrying change, and while Wenger denied the existence of a training ground bust-up that led to Sanchez being dropped for the game against Liverpool last weekend, it would certainly make sense that the manager should be left frustrated with his apparently sulking star.
Sanchez wants a big pay rise, Arsenal won't give it to him, is he readying himself for the exit?
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