The Arsenal forward enjoyed a superb campaign in 2014-15, having joined the club from Barcelona, and the Frenchman believes the Chile international has matched the 28-year-old
Arsene Wenger believes that Alexis Sanchez is on the same level as Barcelona superstar Luis Suarez.
The Chile international enjoyed a superb debut campaign at the Emirates, scoring 25 goals and providing 12 assists in all competitions following his £35 million move from Barcelona.
Wenger believes that Alexis is one of the finest players in world football, and has compared his ability to that of Suarez, who played a key role in Barca’s historic treble-winning 2015-16 campaign.
“Sanchez and Suarez are at the same level. Suarez is a central striker and Sanchez is more a wide player who likes to go up and down and is involved in dribbling, but they have similarities,” he told reporters.
“Sanchez has that desire to go forward and provoke, he is a guy who provokes chaos in the defences because he has a go at them. He does not go across, he goes straight. His desire to go forward, to provoke opponents, to run at people, creates danger.
“And he plays to win in every single game. I have had players like that before, players who want to win so much, but he has the style as well.
“What Sanchez has is that, in the first two yards, he is lightning quick. He has that explosive attitude linked with his spirit and that makes him even more spectacular.”
Arsenal are currently preparing to face Liverpool on Monday, and Wenger admits that he expected Alexis to move to Anfield when the club sold Suarez to Barca, while he believes that the Chilean is constantly improving.
“At the start, when I saw Suarez went to Barcelona, I thought that is the obvious deal, one going one way and the other, the other way,” he added.
“So I had not much hope. But I met Sanchez’s agent in Brazil at the World Cup, I had a few meetings with them, and I could see [there was an interest in Arsenal].
“He is already better than he was when he arrived. In his final finishing there is room for improvement, in his final ball he is already much better, his vision is quite good and incisive.
“I was surprised that he came on the market.
“Sometimes there are so many big players in the other big, big clubs who are good but do not play.
“So after a year or two of them not playing, you can get a good deal. Sanchez is a case. Pedro is another case. Arjen Robben is another - he was at Real Madrid, let’s not forget.”
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