Arsenal left-back Nacho Monreal has claimed that the squad do not expect to see Mesut Ozil or Alexis Sanchez leave in January.
Both Ozil and Sanchez are out of contract in the summer and it is widely expected that Arsenal will lose one or both of the players in the upcoming window.
However, mainstay Monreal does not seem to think that is true, insisting that the rest of the squad don’t expect to lose either player at this point in the season.
Speaking to IBTimes UK, he said: “Yes, the feeling is that they will continue. At no time have we talked about the possibility of them leaving. Not at all. They are committed to the group and we will see what happens.
“I can’t say much about it. It does not depend on me. The situation is clear. They are two vital players for Arsenal. They are two players who end their contracts at the end of the season. If the club want them to stay beyond December [the January transfer window] they will follow.
“Yet, I do not know the club’s intentions. It is other people who are the ones who have to make a decision.”
OPINION
As optimistic as Monreal seems, it is hard to see both staying at the Emirates in January. Possibly one may end up staying and seeing out their contract until the summer, but both players are highly-coveted elsewhere, and the Arsenal top brass will surely be too tempted to cash in rather than see them walk away for free. Another factor is that the club will have some say in where the players end up if they sell them in January, whereas the players could both end up at rivals if they leave on a free, something which Arsenal must surely try and avoid.