He is one of the best players of the Emirates era, crashing home 80 goals and supplying 44 assists in 166 matches. The Chilean was pretty damn good, that's for sure.
The way he left the Gunners behind, however, has left a sour taste in the mouth of supporters. Fans thought he was chasing the money as he eventually departed north London and headed for Manchester United in a repeat move of Robin van Persie's exit.
Sanchez-Arsenal-Chiesa-Premier-League-transfer
Sadly for him, it did not go according to plan. Sanchez played just 45 times for the Old Trafford side, scoring five goals in the process.
In an interview, he infamously revealed that after one training session he wish he'd never left the comforts of Arsenal behind.
"Sometimes there are things that you don't realise until you get there, and I remember the first training session I had, I realised a lot of things. After the session I got home and I told my family and my agent, 'Can you not rip up the contract to go back to Arsenal?' They laughed. I told them there was something that didn't sit right, it didn't seem good. But I had already signed; I was already there. After the first few months, I carried on having the same feeling. We weren't united as a team in that moment."
Well, with Alexis initially moving from Barcelona, Arsenal could repeat that deal this winter.
Arsenal looking at LaLiga star
The main name on Arsenal fans' lips this winter has been Nico Williams.
The Athletic Club winger is a player that Mikel Arteta reportedly 'wants to sign this month' but whether a deal can be done this month is hard to tell. The player boasts a release clause of around £50m but his wage demands are allegedly uncomfortable for the Gunners' hierarchy.
nico-williams
So, why not sign another defender? That seems to be the order of the day as far as Arsenal are concerned. Considering they ended last season with the best defensive record in the Premier League, you can't complain too much. That said, the fact of the matter is Arsenal haven't made enough additions to their forward line.
Still, reports in Spain are now suggesting that Arteta and Co could raid LaLiga. Not for Williams, however, but for Barcelona centre-back Ronald Araujo.
Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo.
According to the report, the defender now 'wants to leave the club' and with 'Arsenal after the player', they could submit a bid to sign him in the coming days.
Araujo is also receiving interest from Juventus and it's thought a move could be done for a fee in the region of £67m.
Why Ronald Araujo would be a good signing for Arsenal
Throughout the years there have been a number of transactions between Arsenal and Barcelona.
More often than not, it's been the Spanish giants raiding Arsenal, with the likes of club legend Thierry Henry, Alexander Hleb, Thomas Vermaelen, Alex Song, Giovanni van Bronckhorst and more all leaving north London for rather sunnier weather in Catalonia.
That said, the Premier League side have tried to seek revenge throughout the years and there are no two better examples than Cesc Fabregas and Alexis.
Fabregas-Arsenal-Barcelona
Sanchez was playing in the shadow of Lionel Messi, Neymar and to some extent Pedro at Camp Nou so understandably decided to leave Spain behind after scoring 46 goals in 141 matches.
Rather more appreciated at Arsenal, he became the main man at a big club, something he always dreamt of.
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The situation is perhaps a tad similar to Araujo's. The Uruguayan hasn't played all season because of a hamstring injury but even last term he found himself in and out of the league team, starting just 21 of the 32 LaLiga fixtures he was available for.
Considering Xavi has previously described the 25-year-old as "one of the best centre-backs in the world", this is rather surprising.
Still, Barcelona's loss is Arsenal's gain here. They may well have plenty of defenders but you sense that if William Saliba or Gabriel got injured, they are still lacking somewhat.
Jurrien Timber can play at centre-half but has done a sterling job at right-back while it looks as though Riccardo Calafiori's future is at left-back. That leaves Jakub Kiwior whose performances have been incredibly inconsistent, notably making a massive error that led to Crystal Palace's opening goal in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals.
arsenal-jakub-kiwior
It's often spoken about how Arsenal can raise the floor of this squad and by replacing Kiwior with Araujo, they'd certainly be doing that.
Here's how the Barca star compares to the club's very best centre-backs.
Araujo vs Saliba & Gabriel (2023/24)
Stat (per 90 mins)
Araujo
Saliba
Gabriel
Pass success %
88.8%
92.4%
88.7%
Progressive passes
4.55
4.13
3.46
Key passes
0.36
0.16
0.09
Touches
81.6
81.4
72.4
Take-on success %
72.7%
66.7%
40%
Progressive carries
1.08
0.42
0.38
Tackles won
0.99
0.68
0.83
Interceptions
0.54
0.76
0.92
Aerial duels won %
73.2%
59.5%
55.4%
Stats via FBRef.
So, as you can see, there isn't very much separating the trio but there are some areas where Araujo has the beating of Saliba and Gabriel.
william-saliba-arsenal-premier-league
He's a far more progressive carrier of the ball and interestingly, he wins an even higher percentage of his aerial duels.
A carry is considered progressive if the ball is moved towards the opponent's goal at least 10 yards from its starting point or is carried into the penalty area.
That could well be music to the ears of set-piece coach Nicolas Jover who will no doubt be delighted about the idea of adding even more aerial threat to the team.
While Gabriel has been one of the most free-scoring defenders, bagging 19 goals in 194 outings, Araujo certainly knows where the net is too.
nicolas jover-3
He has netted 21 goals in 243 club outings (a goal every 11.5 games) to Gabriel's 25 in 308 (a goal every 12 games), meaning that he could be an even greater weapon for Jover moving forward.
While a centre-back should by no means be Arsenal's number one priority in 2025, if they did complete a deal it would be a brilliant signing.
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