Alexis Sánchez could return for Manchester City clash

Arsène Wenger says Alexis Sánchez has a "slight chance" to be in the Arsenal squad for Monday night's crunch fixture with Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium but the manager will not allow him the take the final decision on his fitness.

Sánchez has not yet returned to full training, although he is running again, after the hamstring injury that he suffered in the 1-1 draw at Norwich City on 29 November. As usual, Sánchez is ready to declare himself fit to play but Wenger made it clear that his selection would not rest on solely on how the forward felt.

Wenger, perhaps, is mindful of what happened at Norwich, when Sánchez had felt a small hamstring alert after the home win over Dinamo Zagreb five days earlier. Sánchez pulled up with a tear to the muscle just before the hour mark at Carrow Road.

“Maybe, there is a slight chance for Alexis to be in the squad again but it is too early to be sure about it,” Wenger said. “He is running but not participating in full training. I believe it is normal that he wants to play. You want him to be keen to play. He respects all the decisions I make and that is what I want from him.”

Wenger was asked whether he trusted his players when they said they were fit to play. “Not all of them,” he replied, with a smile. “I don’t mean this in a negative way. Some of them are so keen to forget that they have pain somewhere that they say they are alright, when they are not.

“You know the players and their psychological profile, you take that into account and then you get scientific advice. You trust your gut, as well, and then you make a decision.

“It’s a compliment [TO SÁNCHEZ]. You want everybody to absolutely want to play. We have shown again recently with Olympiakos and with Aston Villa that we have fantastic mentality in the team and these players are something special on the human front. I hope that in the longer term, in the championship, that will come out. Will I make the decision rather than Alexis? Yes. Because he says he’s always ready.”

Wenger was in relaxed mood on Thursday morning, as evidenced by various quips, including one that related to Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium plans. Arsenal’s north London neighbours have been granted planning permission to rebuild on the existing White Hart Lane site, and it is a source of satisfaction at Tottenham that the new ground will boast a capacity of 61,000 – making it 1,000 seats larger than Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium.

“Are you surprised by that?” Wenger said. “We will try to put more seats in at the Emirates!”

Wenger reflected on Monday’s Champions League draw, which has pitted Arsenal against the holders, Barcelona, in the last-16. Arsenal were knocked out by the Spanish team in both 2009-10 and 2010-11 – losing narrowly, on the second occasion – while they also lost to them in the 2005-06 final.

“We are playing against a team that have the trophy and are the best team in Europe but I think we have a good chance to go through,” Wenger said. “It is a difficult challenge but an exciting one as well.

“We are more mature now. We played against Barcelona previously with top teams, but very inexperienced and very young. Barcelona were in full power but we still managed to beat them [in the first-leg in 2011] and it was always very tight.

“We have never been beaten [comprehensively] and we were sometimes unlucky as well. That is in our minds. That is deep in my body, as well. I do not forget that. We have a chance, an opportunity to put things right, and we’ll focus on that.”

Wenger also commented on the stories that have linked Pep Guardiola, the Bayern Munich manager, to Manuel Pellegrini’s job at City at the end of the season. Wenger said that the speculation could destabilise a younger manager but he backed Pellegrini, for whom he has great respect, to tough it out.

“It can be destabilising but Pellegrini is experienced enough to deal with it,” Wenger said. “Maybe, if it was a very young beginner, it could be destabilising but I don’t think that at his level it will affect him.

“I don’t know where it comes from. It’s very difficult to master nowadays, to have this kind of speculation. If you look at Real Madrid, there is always speculation. It looks like it’s part of our job now.”

(Guardian service)