Alexis Sanchez demanding incredible £400,000-a-week deal to stay at Arsenal with club’s offer currently £125,000 short of that figure
Chilean winger is asking for a huge pay rise as interest from Manchester City increases
ALEXIS SANCHEZ is demanding an incredible £400,000 a week to stay at Arsenal.
Hitman Alexandre Lacazette last night completed a club-record £52million switch from Lyon which will see him earn £150,000 a week.
Yet contract rebel and Manchester City target Sanchez, who has a year left on his current deal, turned down a weekly wage of £275,000 and is holding out for £400k — nearly £21m a year.
Arsene Wenger’s move for his countryman — who joins for an initial £44m — saw the club beat their previous record of £42.5m for Mesut Ozil.
Lacazette joins his fellow Frenchmen Laurent Koscielny, Francis Coquelin and — for the time being — Olivier Giroud at the club.
The 26-year-old said: “Throughout my childhood, thanks to Thierry Henry and other French players, I dreamed of playing for this club.
“I like the fact the manager has been here for a while as it shows it is a stable club.
"There are also a few French players here, which makes it easier to settle in.
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“Arsenal play the best football in England so I really wanted to come.”
Lacazette will travel with the team on Sunday for a pre-season tour of Australia and the Far East.
Boss Wenger added: “He is a very efficient finisher and will help us challenge at the top level.”
But Arsenal have been left stunned by Sanchez’s wage demands — and suitors Bayern Munich have now walked away, leaving City as the only likely destination for the 28-year-old Chilean.
Arsenal’s £17m flop striker Lucas Perez, 28, is set to return home to former club Deportivo La Coruna this week.
