Earlier this week, it was reported that Arsenal had offered Alexis Sanchez a £300,000-a-week contract in a bid to convince the Chilean to pen a fresh deal at the Emirates Stadium.

As it stands, the former Barcelona attacker will be out of contract in the summer of 2018, and it is understood that a number of clubs, including Chelsea, want to sign him at the end of the season.

Arsenal's rotten 2017 has seen them fall away in the Premier League, in addition to suffering more embarrassment against Bayern Munich in the knockout round of the Champions League.

During a press conference on Friday, Gunners boss Arsene Wenger was asked whether the club had indeed decided to smash their wage structure in a bid to keep Sanchez at the club.

The Frenchman remained coy when questioned on the reported contract offer, however, and conceded that he 'could not confirm' that an offer had been made at this stage of the season.

He said:

"First of all, I cannot confirm that we have offered that. Secondly, we will do as always. We have to consider our financial potential to sustain the wages of our whole squad."

Sanchez has scored 22 times in 40 appearances for Arsenal during the 2016-17 campaign, but the club's inability to challenge for major trophies has seemingly led to his unhappiness.

https://video.footballfancast.com/video-2015/arsenal-couldhavebeens.mp4