Thursday 7 September 2017 10:26, UK
Arsene Wenger has refused to confirm that Alexis Sanchez's Deadline Day move to Manchester City broke down after Arsenal failed to sign Monaco's Thomas Lemar.
The Frenchman would not go into detail on how close the Gunners came to selling Sanchez on August 31 in his Thursday news conference ahead of the visit of Bournemouth to the Emirates on Saturday afternoon.
"The transfer market is over, there was a lot going on on that front. It's very difficult for me to speak about that because the most important thing now is our next game," he said.
Asked whether any Sanchez sale hinged on bringing in Lemar, Wenger added: "That's what I read everywhere, yes. My view is that it is too difficult to speak about that because Lemar is now in Monaco and of course Sanchez is here.
"After that, I believe, we have to keep a certain confidentiality about the transfer negotiations. The transfer market is part of that. Many things happen at the last second."
However, Wenger said it was "not true" the £92m Lemar deal failed because the player was not interested in joining Arsenal.
"He decided to stay in Monaco and you have to respect that," he said. "The player has a three-year contract to go - so overall you have to respect that."
The Arsenal boss reiterated his backing to closing the transfer window before the season starts. Premier League clubs are expected to discuss bringing the deadline forward at a meeting on Thursday.
"It is important that we change that and close all that stuff before the championship starts," he said.
"You can see in the games even in the players' minds they have no clarity - are they in, are they out? - and are they being tapped up by people in the game who want to get them out?
"It is not a way to work and it is uncomfortable. It is time to kick that out before the season starts."
The Gunners boss also predicted star forward Sanchez would be "very quickly back to his best" for the club against the Cherries.
The 28-year-old cut a forlorn figure in the 4-0 defeat to Liverpool prior to the international break, over which he endured more misery with Chile in the World Cup qualifiers.
Chile suffered a 3-0 home defeat by Paraguay before a 1-0 loss in Bolivia that threatens their participation in next year's World Cup
But Wenger has no concerns about the character of his star performer.
"I have no doubt about Alexis' mind and mentality, that people question," he said.
"He needs to come back to full fitness, which he was not (at) against Liverpool. It was his first game, and he has suffered a negative experience with Chile.
"But he is strong mentally and hopefully he will be back very quickly to his best."
