Chile international striker Alexis Sanchez has agreed to join
Arsenal Football Club on a long-term contract for an undisclosed fee.
Sanchez,
25, joins Arsenal from Barcelona where he made a total of 88 appearances,
scoring 39 goals during his three seasons with the Catalan side.
With
Barcelona, Sanchez won both La Liga (2012/13) and the Copa del Rey (2012), as
well as the Spanish Super Cup on two occasions (2011, 2013), the UEFA Super Cup
(2011) and the FIFA Club World Cup (2011).
Regarded
as one of the world’s finest talents, Sanchez has just returned from the World
Cup in Brazil, where he played an integral role in Chile qualifying from their
group (which included the Netherlands, Spain and Australia) and reaching the
round of 16. During the tournament, Sanchez scored two goals from his four
appearances
.The
striker, who has now made 71 appearances for Chile, scoring 24 goals, started
his career with Cobreloa, based in Calama in north Chile, where he spent a
season before moving to Santiago-based Colo-Colo, where he won the Chilean
Primera Division in 2007.
After
convincing performances in Chile between 2005 and 2007, Sanchez went on loan to
Argentine side River Plate, where he added the Argentinian Primera Division to
his honours.
Following
his success in South America, Sanchez made a permanent move to Serie A side
Udinese in 2008, where he spent three seasons, scoring 20 goals from 95
appearances, before making the move to Barcelona in 2011.
Arsenal
manager Arsène Wenger said: “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.
“Alexis
will add power, creativity and much quality to our squad and we are all looking
forward to him joining up with us in a few weeks. 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’m sure all
Arsenal supporters will join me in welcoming Alexis to our club.”
Sanchez
said: “I’m 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. I’m looking forward to meeting my new team-mates and to be playing
for Arsenal in the Premier League and Champions League. I will give my best to
Arsenal and want to make all the supporters happy.”
Sanchez
travelled to London Colney on Thursday to complete his medical and will join up
with his new team-mates at the end of July, after spending some time on holiday
following the World Cup.
It is
expected that Sanchez will make his first Arsenal appearance at the Emirates
Cup, which takes place at Emirates Stadium on Saturday, August 2 and Sunday,
August 3.
Sanchez’s
Arsenal squad number will be revealed soon through Arsenal’s official Instagram account.
A full
interview with Alexis will feature soon on Arsenal Player.
Everyone
at Arsenal welcomes Alexis to the club and looks forward to seeing him in an
Arsenal shirt.
The transfer
is subject to the normal regulatory process.
Culled from Arsenal.com
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