Ankle injury set to keep Alexis Sanchez out of Arsenal's US tour

Arsene Wenger has given an update on Alexis Sanchez's ankle injury and revealed that it was the main reason for the Chilean missing the Gunners' upcoming pre-season tour of the United States. The Arsenal forward picked up an ankle injury during his country's triumphant campaign at the 2016 Copa America Centenario tournament.

The French manager has allayed fears about it being a severe knock, but believes the £35m ($45.9m) former Barcelona attacker needs rest ahead of the start of the new season, which begins with a clash against Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium on 14 August. Alexis is likely to miss the start of the new season with the injury, but Wenger will be hoping he returns sooner rather than later.

The north London club will play two matches during their tour of the US against the MLS All Stars and Chivas de Guadalajara before moving on to Norway and Sweden to face Viking FC and Manchester City respectively. Apart from the Chilean, there are other first-team players missing owing to their participation in the latter stages of the recently concluded European Championships in France.

The quartet of Aaron Ramsey, Mesut Ozil, Olivier Giroud and Laurent Koscielny are likely to miss the clash against the Reds after they were granted extended leave by the manager and are unlikely to be fit for the first game. Meanwhile, summer arrivals Granit Xhaka and Rob Holding have been added to the travelling party after the duo began training with the first-team.

"The players who won't make it are the players who went very far in the European Championship, such as Ramsey, Ozil, Giroud and Koscielny," Wenger told Arsenal's official site, ahead of their departure to California.

"I left Gabriel behind today because he has tonsillitis and is infected. He cannot travel. Alexis will not go either because he had an ankle injury. That is not too bad but I will leave him behind as well," the French coach explained.