The sports world is constantly in flux. Whether you’re talking about football, American football, baseball, basketball, or just about anything else, players are constantly changing teams, being traded, demanding trades, and trying to maximize the millions upon millions of dollars or pounds they can make.
It’s fine for them as everyone should seek their highest market value, no matter what market they’re in, but some are looking for find comfort with a certain coach, manager, style of play, or for some other reason. It creates a tough situation for teams and their fans when they simply don’t know what’s going to happen with the upcoming season. Arsenal are facing some questions this offseason with Alexis Sanchez.
While Arsenal just broke their own transfer record with the signing of Alexandre Lacazette for €53 million recently, they still face an interesting challenge off the field. Alexis Sanchez could net the club some serious money from a few other clubs, but without him, the odds of having a real shot at winning the Premier League drop significantly.
For some fans, the solution is simple. For others, it’s more complex. Some want Sanchez to stay for the remainder of his contract right now in hopes that he will bring them a championship while others thing Arsenal could get some big money for him in a trade.
And herein lies the crux
This is the club’s interesting dilemma. They can either try to see which clubs might want Sanchez and take a big buyout, somewhere in the ballpark of €50 million, or they can force Sanchez to stick to his contract until it expires next June, at which time he would be free and able to sign with any club and Arsenal would get nothing.
If they try to move him now, it will indicate to their loyal fan base that the owners and management are more interested in the bottom line on their spreadsheet than winning. If they keep Sanchez to his contract for this last year, it indicates they truly are more concerned with winning and that can do a lot of boost the fan base and the club. Seeing his potential for the club is like finding a winning casino game online, like Leo Vegas, and realizing that it truly is a game-changer.
Many of the more successful championship teams through the years have built themselves up over time, signing contracts and trading for or buying contracts of key players, spending an exorbitant amount of money in the process to do so, with the main goal of getting to the championship and winning. They spend everything they have for one or two seasons, then spend the next five or ten just trying to recover.
Other teams look to their younger players and focus on building them up, adding a few key pieces along the way, and focus on the five year plan to bring home a championship. Sometimes, though, even when a team gets in position to be a winner, they still have to make tough and potentially costly decisions.
On the move up.
Alexis Sanchez’s performance during last season for Arsenal and during the Confederations Cup in Russia, playing for Chile, indicate that he is a player hitting his prime right now. At 28, his maturity is solid and he has truly become the epitome of what a game-changer is in football.
Players in their prime who have that level of impact on the field are difficult to let go, but so is €50 million. Sanchez could certainly help Arsenal position themselves as one of the favorites to win the championship right from the start of the season, but is the potential cost worth it?
Some people are comparing this situation with Sanchez to what Manchester United and Liverpool faced with Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Suarez, respectively. With those two situations, the clubs managed to persuade their respective stars to remain on with the club for one more season, and in both cases it proved to be highly lucrative with regard to wins.
Manchester United was rewarded with the Premier League title and Liverpool enjoyed their best Premier League season since 1990.
While the circumstances those clubs faced was different than that for Arsenal and Sanchez, the idea is straightforward: the club needs to make a decision, and soon.
What move should Arsenal make?
Most of us on the outside of any club make great ‘Monday morning quarterbacks,’ meaning we always seem to know the right moves a club should make, especially after a game or decision, but for this, the choice really is clear.
Arsenal isn’t hurting for cash. While €50 million is a ton of money for most of us, and it certainly would be for the club, if they hold Sanchez to his contract, and assuming his performance excels this seasons as it has throughout the past few, then the club will certainly be getting its money’s worth. Then, by next summer, if they take home the title, and with a strong cast of stars firmly in place, Sanchez might be convinced to renew his contract. Right now, though, the best move is to hold firm.
The right move, for the die-hard fans, is simple: keep Sanchez. The fans pay good money on tickets and merchandise to see a winner. They want to cheer for their team and enjoy the victories, the goals, and the emotions that come with following a team that moves closer and closer to the Premier League title.
Is Arsenal unload Sanchez and take the buyout offer, some believe they’ll still be competitive, but they’ll be facing him with one of their opponents, and that could sting, especially if the Arsenal falls just short of the Premier League title (especially to the hands of that opponent who snags Sanchez).
From an outside perspective, retaining Sanchez is the bold move. It’s also the right one for a team just about poised to make a serious run for the league title.