Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has admitted that he ‘cannot afford’ to take a risk with the fitness of Alexis Sanchez.
The Chilean has been out with injury since the 1-1 draw at Carrow Road against Norwich City in November, suffering from a hamstring issue.
However, Alexis has been back in training for the last couple of weeks and could be back in first-team action this weekend, when the Gunners take on Guus Hiddink’s struggling Chelsea side.
The Frenchman, speaking in his news conference, as reported by the club’s official website, has reiterated the desire to put Alexis in the side but admitted he cannot afford any risks with him, as it may keep the 27-year-old on the sidelines for a prolonged period of time.
I am cautious with him because we cannot afford a setback with him.
A setback would mean a very long period out so we don’t want to take this gamble. The signs he has shown in training this week are positive.
The doubt is that he has been out for a long time and the risk of a setback if you try to go too early. To be clear on all the tests is one thing, after he is clear on training is another things, and after the intensity of a big game you can never repeat in a training session. You can make sure after a certain amount of time that the risk is minimal.
Arsenal welcome back a number of starts in the coming weeks, with Mesut Ozil returning after a slight foot injury last weekend.
The likes of Danny Welbeck, Tomas Rosicky and Francis Coquelin are also resuming full training in the next week – and Wenger discussed the benefit a big squad will have on the title run in.
We have done extremely well during this period where we had big players out.
But it’s just a good opportunity for us to have everybody back because we are at the front of a very important schedule and we want to do well in the FA Cup, we want to do well in the Champions League and it’s good to have everyone back.
The strikers give you goalscoring and as well I feel in games when you have 70 minutes gone and you have a strong bench it gives you a big chance to win the game. So this variety of problems you can give to the opponent is very important.
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