Chile boss confirms Arsenal star Alexis Sanchez is 100% fit to face Uruguay

Chile's national team manager, Juan Antonio Pizzi, has confirmed Alexis Sanchez is 100% ready to return to action for the World Cup qualifier against Uruguay on Tuesday (15 November). Pizzi has told Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger he should have no worries about the contest, despite the match coming just four days before the Gunners' crunch game with Manchester United.

Alarms went off at Arsenal last week after Sanchez suffered an injury during a training session with Chile. He was ruled out of last Thursday's game with Colombia, but Chile refused to send him back to London after revealing it was just a "low grade muscular injury".

Wenger questioned Chile's decision, saying he would prefer to have the forward back in London for treatment ahead of a week that sees a trip to Old Trafford before the Champions League game with Paris Saint-Germain.

"I got a text last night [to say] that he has a hamstring injury," a concerned Wenger told beIN SPORTS on Thursday. "The team from Chile has travelled without him and they kept him to try and get him fit to play Uruguay for the second game on Tuesday night. We have to get access for our medical staff to the MRI scan to see what grade it is, how bad it is and make absolutely sure they don't make any suicidal decision that could harm his future for two or three months.

Sanchez returned to training on Sunday, and now Pizzi has confirmed the Arsenal star is fully fit to face Uruguay. He also confirmed Arturo Vidal and Claudio Bravo are now available, despite the Bayern Munich star and the Manchester City keeper limping off during the previous qualifier against Colombia.

"Arturo and Claudio had a knock after the game at Barranquilla. Alexis's case is different because he was not available for that game but we knew that the magnitude of the injury was so small that we could keep in our mind for this game [against Uruguay] and the three are available," the Chile boss said in the press conference ahead of the game.

Asked whether the Arsenal forward is 100% fit to face Uruguay, Pizzi insisted: "Yes. It's not that he could not train. He has been training on his own while we were in Colombia, making it a specific task to recover. Yesterday [on Sunday] he trained with the group and had no problem, so he is available."

Bayern Munich joined Arsenal in expressing their concern over Chile's treatment of players after Vidal suffered an injury against Colombia.

But asked about the complains from Arsenal and the Bundesliga giants, Pizzi said: "We have not received any pressure from any club. I will never use a player who is unfit. We will never risk any player who does not have the medical green light. I reiterate that these two teams [Arsenal and Bayern], like any other, can have full assurance that we are responsible and that we respect the health of our players."