Alexis Sanchez responds to Arsenal bust-up rumours in Instagram post

As The Independent revealed on Sunday, an angry disagreement between Sanchez and one of his teammates caused Wenger to leave the Chilean out of his starting line-up at Anfield

Mark Critchley
Monday 06 March 2017 13:36 GMT
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Arsenal striker Alexis Sanchez in numbers

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Alexis Sanchez has responded to the speculation over his long-term Arsenal future by promising to 'fight' for the club.

The Chilean was dropped by Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal manager, for Saturday's 3-1 defeat to Liverpool after he stormed out of a training session last week.

As The Independent revealed on Sunday, an angry disagreement between Sanchez and one of his teammates left Wenger feeling as though he had to leave his star player out for the good of the team.

Sanchez, who was eventually brought on as a second-half substitute at Anfield, has now appeared to respond to reports of the incident by posting a defiant message on his official Instagram account.

“The true warrior fights not because he hates the ones in front of him, but because he loves those behind him,” he wrote, using a quote often attributed to English author G.K. Chesterton, before adding: “Let's go Gunners. The only failure is not trying.”

Speaking at a pre-match press conference ahead of Tuesday's Champions League meeting with Bayern Munich, Wenger dismissed the reports of a fall-out as 'completely false' and insisted that he had left Sanchez out on a purely tactical basis.

“I understand that you have to feed the newspapers and we respect that,” he said. “When you lose these games, it’s not always down to these stories, and we accept that.”

Wenger subsequently insisted that the club would decide on Sanchez's long-term future, as negotiations between the two parties over a new contract continue.

The 28-year-old is yet to agree a terms and he has just 16 months left to run on his current Arsenal deal.

Sanchez, who currently earns approximately £130,000-a-week, is thought to want a significant pay rise in order to put him in line with the Premier League’s highest-earning players.

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