Arsene Wenger adamant Alexis Sanchez will stay at Arsenal and confirms swapping texts with forward

Arsene Wenger is adamant that Alexis Sanchez will remain an Arsenal player beyond this summer and confirmed that he had spoken to the forward about staying with the Gunners despite interest from other clubs.

The Chilean forward has entered the final year of his contract with the club and is yet to agree to a new deal, which has put his future in doubt with a number of clubs showing interest in signing him. Manchester City are leading the chase with Pep Guardiola eager to take him to the Etihad Stadium.

The Arsenal manager is not entertaining any talk of a summer move and insisted that he expects the player to honour his contract with the hope that he will sign an extension either before the start of the season or during the campaign. Sanchez, who is currently on holiday, has revealed that he has made a decision with regards to his future, but is yet to publicly state his decision.

Wenger wants his last season's top scorer to remain at the Emirates and revealed that he had spoken to Sanchez via text and that the conversation had been positive. Arsenal are currently on their pre-season tour of Australia and Sanchez is expected to rejoin the squad once they return back to London Colney in just over a week.

"Of course," Wenger said about Sanchez remaining an Arsenal player beyond the summer, as quoted by the Daily Mail. "There is not a lot to resolve with the player. I have spoken through text and it was very positive. My thoughts are always positive."

Arsenal have offered Sanchez a new deal worth around £300,000-a-week and are hoping they can convince him to commit his long-term future to the club. Wenger has already begun strengthening his side and has completed two signings thus far – Sead Kolasinac from Schalke and a club record deal for Alexandre Lacazette from Lyon.