Wenger: Failing to sell Sanchez could cost Arsenal nearly $183 million

The failure to sell Alexis Sanchez with one year left on his contract could cost Arsenal more than $91 million in the short term and $91 million in the long term.

That’s according to Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who said that the club missed out on recouping funds for Sanchez while admitting it would cost another $91 million to sign a significant player as a replacement. Sanchez can leave Arsenal on a free transfer next summer should the Gunners not sell him at a likely discounted rate in January.

“You take a Sánchez into the final year of his contract, you sacrifice 60-70million income and at the end of the season you will have to buy somebody for that amount of money,” Wenger said, via beIN Sports. “It has a huge price so at some stage you have to make a decision, you have to sacrifice one or two.”

Sanchez is coming off a rough week, having not been able to complete a proposed move to Manchester City compounded by two straight defeats with the Chilean National Team, suffering criticism from the Chilean fans and press. And just before the international break, Sanchez’s first appearance this season for Arsenal came in its 4-0 mauling from Liverpool.

In a post on his Instagram page, Sanchez hit out at the team’s critics.

“You get tired of being criticized with reason and without reason, you get tired of wanting to be defeated, you get tired of saying to yourself “I’ll get up again” after crying after a defeat, and you get tired of telling the world and people who are with you, that everything is going well,” Sanchez wrote. “And the worst, that no one ever realizes how that makes you feel … I have the back of Chile and it is a huge responsibility, that’s why I’m sorry that journalists and bad people criticize without understanding.”

It will be interesting to see whether Sanchez’s anger and disappointment affect his play, or whether he can put it behind him and lead Arsenal back up the Premier League table