Nacho Monreal reveals what Arsenal dressing room expect from Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil sagas

Nacho Monreal is confident Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez will remain at Arsenal beyond the end of the Janaury transfer window after the contract rebels produced a committed display in the impressive 2-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday (18 November).

The visit of Spurs was a major test for the Gunners and Monreal and co showed that they can beat anyone when their two stars click.

Ozil assisted Shkodran Mustafi for the opener before Sanchez smashed home the second to help Arsenal claim victory in the first north London derby of the campaign.

However, it is uncertain whether Sanchez and Ozil will remain at the Emirates Stadium much longer with their contracts set to expire at the end of the current season.

Arsene Wenger recently admitted that Arsenal may be forced sell the two players in January if there is not a breakthrough in the contract negotiations before the transfer window reopens.

Sanchez continues to be linked with Manchester City after his move to Pep Guardiola's side fell through in the summer due to Arsenal's failure to secure the services of AS Monaco midfielder Thomas Lemar as a replacement.

Ozil, meanwhile, is said to be on the radar of Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho while recent reports in Spain claimed that Barcelona are also considering him as a cheaper alternative to Liverpool playmaker Philippe Coutinho ahead of the January window.

But questioned by IBTimes UK whether Arsenal dressing room believes that Sanchez and Ozil will be at the club for the second half of the season, Monreal said: "Yes, the feeling is that they will continue. At no time have we talked about the possibility of them leaving. Not at all. They are committed to the group and we will see what happens.

"I can't say much about it. It does not depend on me. The situation is clear. They are two vital players for Arsenal. They are two players who end their contracts at the end of the season. If the club want them to stay beyond December [the January transfer window] they will follow. Yet, I do not know the club's intentions. It is other people who are the ones who have to make a decision."

Monreal believes that the visit of Tottenham was a must-win for his side following another disappointing start to the season which has seen Arsenal lose key clashes against Liverpool and league leaders City.

And Monreal believes that his side responded in style after dismissing suggestions that referee Mike Dean also contributed to the win.

"I have the feeling that we were the better side," added the Spaniard. "We had the possession, we had more chances. I do not think the referee was decisive in the final score. Tottenham came from a good run, they recently had a great performance against Real Madrid. But at home we are doing things well, we had had several victories in a row and we were confident of getting the three points as we have done.

"We knew that it was a very important. Whenever we play Tottenham there is a special rivalry. Fans take it differently because it is a very important derby. We played at home and we had to give a joy to the fans following our previous defeat against Manchester City."

The question among Arsenal fans is whether Wenger's side will be able to maintain this level through the remainder of the campaign.

Monreal admits that the inconsistency of his side is still an issue at Arsenal but he backs his side for the best by thinking in the game to game rather than setting a long-term target.

"What we all want is for the team to maintain this dynamic in the coming games," Monreal stated. "We are a team that when we are playing well, when we are focused, when we have solidarity ... we are very hard. It's tough to play against us. It is true that we have this fault: we are a bit inconsistent. We are able to play two, three games at a very high level and then we have a dip. If we were more consistent we would be fighting for more things at the end of the season. But the win over Tottenham gives us confidence for the coming games.

"I think we don't have to be obsessed about setting a certain target. We go match by match. The target was to beat Tottenham and now the next one is to do the same in the Europa League. When the months of January, February arrive, we will see where we are and what we can achieve. We aim to win everything but we can not become obsessed. In previous seasons we arrived at January as Premier League leaders, it seemed that we were going to win the title and in the end we suffered a blow."