Wenger hopes Chile will avoid 'suicidal decision' to let Sanchez play injured
After news surfaced earlier in the week that Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez suffered an injury in Chile training, Gunners the world over held their collective breaths fearing the worst for the industrious attacker.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was no different, and now that the concern has been downplayed and Chile is hoping to have Sanchez fit for its clash with Uruguay next Tuesday, the gaffer has blasted the twice-defending Copa America winner.
"I got a text last night (to say) that he has a hamstring injury. The team from Chile has travelled without him and they kept him to try and get him fit to play Uruguay for the second game on Tuesday night," Wenger told beIN Sports, courtesy of the Mirror's John Cross.
Sanchez, who has played the full 90 minutes 15 times this season, was suspected to have torn a calf muscle in Chile training. That injury was downgraded to a hamstring concern, prompting La Roja's desire to have the tireless worker play in a pivotal World Cup qualifier next week.
Chile sits perilously in the fifth and final qualifying spot ahead of tilts with Colombia and Uruguay, and Sanchez is the most influential in Juan Antonio Pizzi's lot.
Wenger doesn't care much for that reasoning, adding that he's desperate to have Arsenal's medical team perform an MRI on its star striker to assess the magnitude of the injury.
"I believe that with a hamstring injury, we have to get access for our medical staff to the MRI scan to see what grade it is, how bad it is, and make absolutely sure they don’t make any suicidal decision that could harm his future for two or three months," Wenger added.
"That is absolutely important. It's a grey area between the national team and the club team and of course they look at their own results, which I can understand, but we have to preserve the health of Alexis Sanchez."
Arsenal fans will recall a fateful trip to Carrow Road last season where Sanchez was among a trio of first-team standouts injured during a 3-3 draw with Norwich City. The 27-year-old missed seven matches with a hamstring worry before rushing back, only to re-aggravate the same ailment. Such is the nature of a player who is disinterested by inactivity, and few understand that better than Wenger.
"He always wants to play and that's where it is a more sensitive case because he's always ready to play even when injured."
With Sanchez staying behind in Santiago while his mates play Colombia on Thursday, Wenger is hoping the Chilean football federation will let the player fly to London ahead of Arsenal's return to Premier League football on Nov. 19 at Manchester United.