Arsenal have reportedly offered Alexis Sanchez a new contract worth £180,000-a-week, but it’s still significantly short of what the forward is seeking.
According to The Daily Mail, the Gunners have made their opening offer of £180k-per-week, which represents a solid increase on the Chilean’s current weekly wages of £130k.
However, the 27-year-old is set on earning a minimum of £250,000-a-week and so the initial offer is set to be rejected with the report going on to add that negotiations are set to continue in the coming weeks.
With just 18 months remaining on his current deal, the longer talks go on the more concern there will be at the club as they will be desperate to tie him down to a new long-term contract and avoid seeing him leave the Emirates.
The report adds that there is growing optimism that the likes of Mesut Ozil, Olivier Giroud and Francis Coquelin will all sign new deals, but there will undoubtedly be continued concern over Sanchez who has established himself as a the focal point of Arsenal’s success so far this season.
With 14 goals and 11 assists in 22 games in all competitions so far this season, his importance to the team is obvious. In turn, Arsene Wenger will hope that a compromise can be reached and that the speculation over Sanchez’s future can finally be put to bed sooner rather than later.
The staggering £9.3m-a-year deal would make the former Barcelona and Udinese star one of the best paid players at the club ever, but it’s still significantly short of what Sanchez is looking for and so for the time being, there remains real concern over his future.