Arsenal news: Alexis Sanchez will sign new contract – but only if it has release clause included

Sanchez is also asking for a significant pay rise on his £130,000-a-week wages

Alexis Sanchez is in talks with Arsenal over a new contract (Getty)

Arsenal are on the verge of opening contract talks with Mesut Özil and Alexis Sanchez, but that is no guarantee that the club’s star players will commit their future to the Gunners unless their terms are met during negotiations, with fears that the Chile international will prove harder to please.

Sanchez is believed to be happy at Arsenal and willing to extend his current deal, which expires in the summer of 2018. But The Mirror reports that the 27-year-old will only sign a contract extension if he receives a large pay rise as well as the inclusion of a buy-out clause, should he grow unhappy in London and another European heavyweight come calling.

Arsene Wenger confirmed last weeks that he expects both Sanchez and Özil – who is also contracted until 2018 – to sign new deals in the coming weeks, but while the summer signing of Skhodran Mustafi is believed to have convinced Özil that the club are serious about challenging for silverware this season, there remain concerns over Sanchez’s future.

The Chilean grew agitated last season with Arsenal’s failure to challenge for the Premier League title, and showed his frustration towards Wenger whenever he was rested or substituted during matches. Sanchez was determined to play every match for the Gunners, which often led to him returning too early from injuries or trying to battle through fatigue and performing below his best.

Yet Wenger has held talks with Sanchez to explain to the forward that he must learn that he can’t play every match, and will instead be managed by the Frenchman in order to keep him at his optimum level. Wenger’s decision to look after Sanchez was demonstrated last weekend as he was named on the substitutes’ bench after returning from international duty on Thursday.

Part of his decision to rest Sanchez was in order to keep him fresh for Tuesday’s Champions League encounter against Paris Saint-Germain, where Sanchez was again deployed through the middle as a lone striker and managed to grab the equalising goal despite PSG dominating the bulk of the match.

It’s added that Wenger has told Sanchez he can expect to play through the middle more this season after being deployed out wide in his first two years with the club, although with Olivier Giroud, Lucas Perez and – when fit – Danny Welbeck also able to fill the striker role, Sanchez could well find himself out wide again at some point this season.