Sanchez fit to start against Liverpool: Arsenal coach Wenger

Ahead of Arsenal's important clash against Liverpool, the London football club's head coach Arsene Wenger has confirmed that Chiliean attacker Alexis Sanchez is fit to play.

Sanchez has yet to play this season after suffering a muscle injury in training.

"Alexis has worked very hard to be back again and he is available," Wenger was quoted as saying by espnfc in a news conference on Thursday.

"He works very hard, focused and gives absolutely everything. He loves to play so much that it is sometimes difficult to stop him but he looks absolutely ready. He has not played for a long time so I will have to decide what I do with him but he looks ready to play."

He was linked to a move away from Arsenal with reported interests from Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City.

"He has always been focused on his job, he loves to play football and I don't think he is too disturbed by all the (external) noises that happen," Wenger said on Sanchez's transfer talks.

"Players at that level are used to it now, some deal better with it than others, but I don't think he is too bothered by that.

"He is very focused, very happy and as I told you before, the fact that he goes into the last year of his contract does not mean we have no chance to extend it. At the moment we have not managed to do it, but we just want to focus as a team and not look too much at the individual conditions of the contracts of everybody because what is important is what you want to achieve forever."

Arsenal will also have centre-back Laurent Koscielny back after a suspension.

Wenger also paid tribute to former England captain Wayne Rooney, who on Wednesday announced his international football retirement.

"He has given a lot to England. He's one of the last of the great generation who had the bad luck maybe not to win the World Cup for example," Wenger said.

"That doesn't take away that he has made a great contribution for England and what he has done is absolutely remarkable. I believe he is at the stage of his career where he has to focus on the club if you want to play regularly, and it's the right decision."

--IANS

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