Arsenal’s summer transfer window officially opened this week with Mikel Arteta plotting fresh signings from a position of power after their Premier League triumph. But the Gunners will be haunted by a deadline-day catastrophe nine years ago that saw a £92m deal collapse and left Alexis Sanchez watching his Manchester City ambitions evaporate.
Sanchez had completed three seasons in north London and caught the eye of Pep Guardiola. Arsenal relented and provisionally agreed to sell the Chilean, but only if they secured a replacement. Monaco’s Thomas Lemar was the target, and Arsenal stumped up the £92m asking price. City then submitted a £55m bid for Sanchez, including £5m in add-ons, and Arsenal were willing to let him go.
“Arsenal's £92m deadline-day move for Thomas Lemar collapsed, blocking Alexis Sanchez's transfer to Manchester City.”
Then disaster struck. Lemar featured for France in a 4-0 World Cup qualifier victory over the Netherlands, which stopped the north London club from finalising the deal. The Guardian reported at the time that Arsenal claimed they ran out of time to complete the big-money move, including Lemar’s medical. City were convinced that the Monaco attacker had simply turned down a move to the Gunners.
Arsène Wenger was still at the Arsenal helm in 2017 and tabled a fresh contract for Sanchez worth £300,000 per week. But Sanchez still walked away. Months later, the forward landed at Manchester United in a straight swap for Henrikh Mkhitaryan, securing a package that, including bonuses, could reach £560,000 a week over his two-and-a-half-year stint. He proved a major letdown at Old Trafford, netting just five goals in 45 appearances with nine assists before being shipped out on loan to Inter Milan. Lemar joined Atlético Madrid a year after the saga and remains there to this day. Mkhitaryan proved a modest acquisition for Arsenal, though things could have been far worse had the club splashed nearly £100m on the French international.
As Arteta now looks to strengthen from strength, the spectre of that £92m collapse serves as a cautionary tale. The summer window has barely opened, but Arsenal will hope history does not repeat itself.