Chelsea on alert as Alexis Sanchez contract renewal talks stall with Arsenal -- reports

Do you need a big, juicy transfer rumor (interesting trades considered!) to brighten up your boring midweek?  Well, wait no longer, Santa Telegraph and Santa Standard are here to bring you a few tasty morsels.  No coals in our socks!

The story goes that Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlian, Kieran Gibbs, and Jack Wilshere all have only 18 months left on their contracts, which is about six months less than the ideal time to get renewals signed.  Sure enough, the demands from the players are growing and Arsenal are staring at potential problems, especially around the first two.

According to a report earlier this week in the Evening Standard, both Alexis and Ozil are "looking for Pogba money" — i.e. £300k per week — but Arsenal aren't too keen on that and even if they were, they would only grant it to one of the two.  That lucky one would be Alexis, according to the Telegraph, but Matt Law also says that Chelsea (and others) are actively monitoring this situation (the Alexis one, not the Ozil one), presumably ready to pounce should Arsenal fail to get out of this impasse.

You know things are getting serious when Wenger busts out something about "values", and not the financial kind.

"Well, I would like to say the luxury of the modern game should be it's not only about the money, because the players make anyway wherever they play good money at this level. I believe personally, and maybe I am a bit naive, that it's more about getting to meet the player's needs. That's more about the way the club has values, the way the club has ambition, the way the club respects the players."

"So I think, for me, that is more important nowadays and an important ingredient for every player to consider. The money is good everywhere for everybody."

"You know, nowadays, you negotiate with the agents more than with the player. We are in negotiations, yes. The players [Sánchez and Mesut Özil] are 18 months away from the end of their contracts, so it's normal to be talking. But the players always come in at the end, when it's a renewal, because with the first contract you need the players present. But after that, when you renew, 90% of the contracts are negotiated with the agents."

-Arsene Wenger; source: Guardian

LOL. Sorry, Arsene, professional players, like most other professional job-havers, might value your "values" but in general, they value actual values more.

You know what to do, Granovskaia & Co.

BONUS:

Arsenal fans are panicking about Sanchez joining Chelsea https://t.co/qWBrYbfMeY #afc

— Metro Sport (@Metro_Sport) December 7, 2016