There aren't many players like Alexis Sanchez, we want to keep him - Arsenal's Laurent Koscielny

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James Benge16 May 2017

Arsenal players are desperate for Alexis Sanchez to end his contract stand-off and stay at the Emirates, according to Laurent Koscielny.

Chilean star Sanchez has been offered a new £300,000-a-week contract to extend his deal at the North London club, which is currently due to expire at the end of next season.

However Sanchez, who is a target for the likes of Bayern Munich, Juventus, Paris St Germain and Chelsea, has insisted that he will not resume talks over an extension until the end of the season.

The 28-year-old has been Arsenal’s top scorer (26 goals) and assist provider (19) in all competitions this season and is arguably the only world-class talent available to Arsene Wenger in his current squad.

Though Sanchez’s attitude has at times been questioned – he was involved in a bust-up with team-mates before the visit to Liverpool earlier this season – his quality has not and vice-captain Koscielny insisted that the Arsenal squad were “behind him”.

“Firstly, he [Sanchez] scored a lot of goals for us but his first job is not to be a striker, it is more midfield but he is an unbelievable player. He just wants to fight and have the best result for the club,” Koscielny told Sky Sports.

“Sometimes, he is disappointed with the result of our game but he knows that we just want to fight for each other and for the club. When you have a player like this in your team, to show the way we want to grow together, it is important and I think he has a lot of players behind him to keep him.

“I don't think there are a lot of players like him and a player like this who can be the difference during the game, it's rare. We want to keep him with us because we know he is so important for our team.”

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