Alexis Sanchez completes move to Arsenal from Barcelona

Arsenal have completed the signing of Alexis Sanchez from Barcelona, giving them a high profile signing from Spain in consecutive summers. Last year, they were able to nab Mesut Özil from Real Madrid and now they have Sanchez as well.

The Gunners paid Barcelona a reported £30 million for the Chilean.

Arsenal had to fend off Liverpool for Sanchez, as the two have been in a reported bidding war for the player. The initial bids were about £10 million below what it eventually cost for Arsenal to sign Sanchez and there were rumors that Juventus might get involved, but the Gunners prioritized him early in this window and were willing to pay what was necessary to sign him.

Sanchez is coming off of a 21-goal season for Barcelona, his best output at the club. He also added 15 assists, but it was pretty clear early this summer that he was looking to leave the club and that Barcelona were willing to let him go. Especially with Luis Suarez in their sights, Barcelona had to make room somehow and they did so by offloading Sanchez.

Arsenal now have a tremendous forward, albeit not the strong center forward that some hoped they would sign to replace Olivier Giroud. They may still move to buy one later this summer, but in the meantime, they have a 25-year-old wide player who has been one of Serie A and La Liga’s most dynamic forwards.

Capable of both scoring and creating for others, Sanchez is worth the price, even if Arsenal are not short on wide players or forwards. The Gunners may have Lukas Podolski, Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, but Sanchez is better than them all and Arsenal have clearly upgraded their attack with this signing.