Sanchez was tapped up, Wenger hints

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes Alexis Sanchez has been "tapped up" by clubs keen to sign the Gunners' forward.

Monaco this week complained to Fifa that both Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain had made an illegal approach directly to their teenage striker Kylian Mbappe or his agent, rather than through the club.

And Wenger suggests that Sanchez, who is in the final year of his contract with Arsenal, has also been tapped up by clubs keen to sign the Chile forward.

"Honestly, it is a problem, I don't deny that," said Wenger. 

"But is there a realistic way to fight against it? If you have top players you cannot stop it happening. 

"It's frustrating. We fought against this for 20 years but it still happens. How can you check when an agent meets a director from another club or which player speaks to who?

"We know it happens. It happens every day. Monaco do it as well. In the end they sell the players to the clubs they complain against."

Arsenal are also keen on signing Mbappe and his Monaco team-mate Thomas Lemar, but Wenger insists that the Gunners have adhered to the rule book in their pursuit of the pair.

"We are respectful with the clubs," the Frenchman said. 

"We ask them what they want to do and if they don't want to sell then we don't insist.

"Some do not take no for an answer. That maybe is where Monaco complained."

Asked if he thought Sanchez had been tapped up, the Arsenal manager replied: "What do you think?"

Wenger also reiterated that Sanchez won't be allowed to leave this summer, even if he refuses to sign a contract extension at the Emirates Stadium.

"We are in a strong financial situation, so we want to keep our best players," he continued.

‘Sanchez has got one year to go and we have no need to make money. He will be part of the team next year and after that I can understand it."

Image: Getty Images/ Clive Mason

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