Chile international Alexis Sanchez agreed to sign for Arsenal from Barcelona on this day in 2014 in a deal reported to be worth around £30million.
Closing a deal for Sanchez – who also had interest from Liverpool and Juventus – was down in no small part to the influence of Gunners manager Arsene Wenger.
The former Monaco boss is understood to have spoken to the player face to face while working for French television at the World Cup in Brazil, convincing him the Emirates Stadium was the right place to further his career.
“As many people have seen during the World Cup this summer, Alexis is a fantastic footballer and we are delighted that he is joining us at Arsenal Football Club,” Wenger told www.arsenal.com.
“Alexis will add power, creativity and much quality to our squad and we are all looking forward to him joining up with us.
“He has consistently produced top-quality performances at the highest level for a number of seasons now, and we are all excited to see him integrate into the Arsenal squad. I am sure all Arsenal supporters will join me in welcoming Alexis to our club.”
Sanchez scored 39 goals over three seasons with Barcelona, having joined the Catalan side from Udinese.
“I am so happy to be joining Arsenal – a club which has a great manager, a fantastic squad of players, huge support around the world and a great stadium in London,” Sanchez said.
Sanchez helped Arsenal win the FA Cup in 2015 and 2017, scoring in finals against Aston Villa and Chelsea respectively.
He moved to Manchester United in 2018, then had a spell at Inter Milan before joining his current club Marseille.
