Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has revealed that the club will begin contract extension talks with both Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez in the coming weeks.
Both players have two years remaining on their current deals, but there has been an element of anxiety over the delay in agreeing new terms to lock down their long-term futures.
However, Wenger has now insisted that negotiations will get underway soon as he looks to keep the pair in north London for many more years to come.
“Ozil and Sanchez, we will start to talk for their extensions,” Wenger said, ahead of his side’s clash with Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
Ozil arrived at the club from Real Madrid in 2013, while Sanchez joined from Barcelona a year later with the pair boasting around 200 appearances for the Gunners between them.
However, with just the FA Cup to show for their efforts since arriving at the Emirates, they will be desperate to play leading roles in ending Arsenal’s wait for a Premier League title this season.
After bouncing back from the initial disappointment of losing at home to Liverpool on the opening day of the season, Arsenal have now won back-to-back games to push up the table, and will be eyeing a positive result in Europe in midweek to sustain their momentum.
The signings of Shkodran Mustafi, Granit Xhaka and Lucas Perez will arguably be crucial in persuading key individuals to sign new deals as Wenger bolstered his squad late on in the summer.
Nevertheless, with a strong side in place, the French tactician will hope that they can continue to make progress and build on their second-place finish last season to give the likes of Ozil and Sanchez many more reasons to stay.