David Ospina urges Arsenal to move on from sale of 'excellent' Alexis Sanchez after Chelsea win

David Ospina has urged Arsenal to move on from the loss of the "excellent" Alexis Sanchez after the victory over Chelsea in the Carabao Cup semi-final proved that there is life after the new Manchester United ace.

Sanchez has been arguably the most influential Arsenal player ever since his arrival at The Emirates Stadium from Barcelona in 2014, helping them to win the FA Cup twice.

But the Chile international's departure is yet to be felt. He was left out of Arsene Wenger's squad for the Premier League win over Crystal Palace on weekend as the former Barcelona ironed out the final details of a transfer which was finally confirmed on Monday [22 January].

Arsenal barely missed him then and thrashed the Eagles 4-1 before producing an even more impressive performance on Wednesday night to beat Chelsea 2-1 and book a place in the Carabao Cup final against Manchester City.

Ospina wished all the best to his former teammate at United before hailing the importance of securing two victories against two local rivals in the first two games without him.

Pressed by IBTimes UK after the game whether the successive wins prove Arsenal can still aim for the top without Sanchez, Ospina replied: "This two victories are very important because they serve as an encouragement. The team is fine, we remain strong. I wish Alexis the best. He is a great person and an excellent football player but those of us who are here have to move forward.

"The team has performed very well in these two games. We hope to continue the good run in the coming games, keeping this mentality to achieve our targets at the end of the season."

The departure of a warrior like Sanchez seemed to be a special concern form a team whose mental strength has often been questioned.

Yet, against Chelsea, Ospina's side showed great character and belief to bounce back from Eden Hazard's early goal and come from behind to secure victory.

"Arsenal have always proved that we are a great team. We have excellent players and today it has been shown once again," Ospina added.

"We are very happy for reaching the final against a big rival like Chelsea. Now we will face another strong team [Manchester City] in the final but before that we have to focus on the premier league."

The win over Antonio Conte's side has surely given some a joy to Gunners fans but they still hope for more good news before the January transfer window closes.

Wenger has already brought two players this month in the form of Konstantinos Mavropanos and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

Mavropanos has arrived from Greek side PAS Giannina as a prospect for the future while Mkhitaryan was included in the deal which took Sanchez to United, after he fell out of favour with Jose Mourinho.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Jonny Evans have both been tipped to follow with the Gabon striker being identified as the main to fill the void left by Sanchez in attack.

Ospina meanwhile hailed the arrival of Mkhitaryan but will leave the recruitment of new players to the Arsenal board.

"He [Mkhitaryan] is a very good player. I think he's going to add a lot to the team and we'll try to get the most out of him," the Arsenal keeper said before discussing the arrival of more new players before the end of the month.

"The coaching staff and the board will be working on it [more signing] but we [the players] have to focus on continuing to do things well on the pitch."