Pay up, Arsene… Alexis Sanchez deserves double Paul Pogba’s wage

It’s ridiculous how much money players are asking for these days.

But they’re only making extortionate wage demands because people are willing to pay up. Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil are currently locked in contract negotiations at Arsenal, with reports suggesting they are refusing to budge on demands in excess of £200,000-a-week. And they’re completely right.

[PAPER ROUND: Paper Round: Arsenal duo Ozil and Sanchez want to match Pogba's wages]

If Paul Pogba is getting £290,000-a-week at Manchester United – as has been suggested – then Sanchez is worth double that. There’s not a single football fan in the world who wouldn’t the Chilean in their team and Arsenal fans would not begrudge him rivalling Pogba’s salary. He’s giving everything, scoring goals and winning matches. He deserves a bumper new deal.

Of course, when the belly gets full, some people want to lie down and rest. We’ve seen it with some big names in the Premier League. But I don’t think you’ll ever get that with Sanchez. You don’t have to worry about overfeeding him – he’ll always be hungry.

Ozil is also key to Arsenal, and can’t be allowed to leave, but he’s nowhere near as consistent as Sanchez. The German lacks a little bit of backbone in certain matches. You take Sanchez away to Rochdale in the FA Cup and he’ll go and fight. Ozil? Nah.

Anyway, while Ozil has found his level at Arsenal, Sanchez should be at a club fighting to win the Champions League rather than one battling to qualify. Barcelona need an explosive player willing to chase balls down, Real Madrid would welcome him into their attack, Manchester City would get far more than Sergio Aguero is currently offering, while Antonio Conte would create a terrorising partnership between him and Diego Costa at Chelsea.

So Arsenal’s task is simple: tie them down to major contracts soon. It’s the only way they can win the Premier League. Any other move will send out the message: ‘we’re not that serious’. No global star is going to move to the Emirates if they view it as a stepping stone. That’s not how you win trophies.

Patrick Vieira, Emmanuel Petit, Marc Overmars, Thierry Henry, Robin van Persie… the trend of Arsenal letting their best players leave has to stop – and part of the solution is matching their rivals’ pay packets. Arsenal have got to prove they are serious about winning the Premier League again.

I was very close to signing for Arsenal in 1991. But instead of offering a fair financial deal, they said it’s about wearing the jersey. Well, I was quite happy wearing the jersey of Queens Park Rangers, so felt I couldn’t say yes to their offer. They pulled out and I joined Manchester United. Play for the jersey? Come on.

You judge yourself against other people in your profession. I knew my value and Arsenal weren’t prepared to acknowledge it. Likewise, Sanchez and Ozil know their value to Arsenal, so why should the Gunners be allowed to have them on the cheap? They are top players so, quite rightly, want to be paid the same amount as their rivals at Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea.

Fifteen years later and Arsenal haven’t really changed.

The excessive sums of money have had a negative effective on the Premier League: fans are losing interest. There haven’t been as many good games as they hoped to see this season – a case in point being the awful goalless draw between Liverpool and Manchester United. If fans don’t get excited, they’ll move on and do something else.

The stories are getting boring. It’s the same storylines involving the same issues and the same players. Fans are looking in from the outside and seeing players spending 10 years to become a multi-millionaire, but without showing the same passion as previous generations. With so much money in the game, it’s ironic that fans aren’t seeing much value. Whisper it quietly, but people might be falling out of love with the Premier League.

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