Arsenal are expecting Alexis Sanchez back at pre-season training on Sunday, but he doesn’t look as though he’ll be attending.
The 28-year-old uploaded the post below on Instagram, as he appears to be suffering with a flu which raises real doubts over whether or not he’ll reconvene with the club and his teammates on the scheduled day the club has put in place.
While it may well be a genuine illness and just unfortunate timing, given all the talk around his future in recent months, returning late to training for whatever reason is naturally going to lead to further speculation and concern for supporters.
Having been given extended time off after the Confederations Cup, Arsenal will want the Chilean international to start work on regaining full fitness as soon as possible.
In turn, not being able to train as of Sunday will be a problem for that reason alone, but many won’t just see that as being the end of the story as if Sanchez doesn’t return to England at the weekend, it will only lead to further talk that he’s ready to leave and doesn’t intend on making his way back to north London.
With just 12 months remaining on his contract, there are big question marks over his future. For now, it looks as though he’ll stay as an Arsenal player for another year as the club have no intention of selling their most influential star.
However, as noted by The Guardian, there is talk of a big-money move to Manchester City to reunite with Pep Guardiola, and so the sooner he is back at training with his Arsenal teammates the better as far as the club and all those connected are concerned.