Arsenal striker has the most goals and assists of any overseas player after 20 games of a Premier League season
As the various gongs were dished out by Fifa in Zurich on Monday, it was inevitable that thoughts should also drift to how the domestic individual prizes might look come the end of the season.
Cesc Fàbregas has edged back ahead of Sergio Agüero and Eden Hazard in the minds of the bookmakers at least for the ‘Player of the Year’ prize but a new name to the Premier League has been making a more compelling case by the week.
Alexis Sánchez is now second favourite behind only Fabregas, his former Barcelona team-mate, following a series of performances that have prompted not just respect but something approaching awe among supporters and even fellow professionals.
“It’s been an eye-opener,” Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain says. “He’s like a Duracell battery. He never stops and never gives in.”
Another Arsenal insider described Sánchez as “like the best kid at school” on Monday, emphasising the raw way he has so visibly elevated himself above team-mates and opponents in arguably the strongest league in football.
Steve Bruce and Mark Hughes have played with some of the greats but, after seeing their respective Hull City and Stoke City teams run ragged in consecutive weeks by Sánchez, have been quite freely using the description “world-class”.
Perhaps that is what you should ultimately get for £31 million but what has been almost unique about Sánchez is the absence of any real period of adaptation.
In his first 20 Premier League games, Sánchez has scored or created more than half (19) of Arsenal’s goals. To put that into some perspective, in the entire 23-season history of the Premier League, no new arrival in England has been directly involved in more Premier League goals than Sánchez in their first 20 games.
Eric Cantona did equal Sánchez’s tally with Leeds United and Manchester United in the inaugural 1992-3 season but he had already played in the old Football League. Beyond that, and at this early stage in his career in England, Sánchez has outshone every iconic import, including Agüero (18 goals and assists), Ruud van Nistelrooy (17), Jürgen Klinsmann (16), Arjen Robben (16) and Gianfranco Zola (15) and Luis Suárez (11).
They shared a stage yesterday but both Thierry Henry, who presented the Ballon d’Or, and Cristiano Ronaldo, the recipient, were also well adrift of Sánchez in their first 20 Premier League games with respectively 11 and five goals or assists.
The question, then, is why has Sánchez settled more quickly than even the most celebrated overseas signings?
Speak to colleagues and two clearly interlinked theories are repeated. The first is his physical capacity but this is clearly then also backed up by an on-field work ethic and mentality that is regularly compared to Suárez or Carlos Tévez.
Sánchez has some friends with him in London from Chile to help the settling-in process but the most important comfort and reminder of growing up on the streets of Tocopilla would appear simply to be a football.
His attitude to training is apparently identical to that of a match and, when given the choice, he was adamant that he did not want to be rested in the FA Cup.
Arsenal team-mates had actually cautioned him about the demands of the festive schedule in England, not realising that he would play every match and emerge stronger.
“He does have a lot of quality on the ball but what makes him a fantastic player and such a threat is more related to his energy and attitude,” Joey Barton, the Queens Park Rangers midfielder, says. “It feels like Sánchez is constantly in motion and, on top of that, he never gives up.”
In the 3-0 win against Stoke City on Sunday, Sánchez not only scored twice and created one but also made more high-intensity runs (66) than any other Arsenal player. He has made more tackles and interceptions than the other three highest Premier League goalscorers combined. This off-the-ball work, allied to their wonderful passing, was the hallmark of Barcelona at their very peak under Pep Guardiola.
Now manager of Bayern Munich, Guardiola said that Sánchez had “stolen his heart” when they worked together and you would have to wonder if questions are now being asked inside the Nou Camp about how Suárez, for all his talents, was valued this summer at more than Fabregas and Sánchez put together.
Oxlade-Chamberlain believes that Sánchez is single-handedly raising the quality of his Arsenal team‑mates simply through example. “When you see someone working hard from the front, when they close players and you’re not there to back him up, you have to look at yourself – it sets the tone for the rest of the team,” Oxlade-Chamberlain said.
“If the boys up front react quickly when we lose the ball, it brings the midfield, the full-backs and defence with them. It’s something we work hard on and Alexis does it better than anyone I’ve seen. He’s come from Barcelona and that’s a strong philosophy that they play.
“He’s not afraid to get tackled and put himself on the line or work back. He scores good goals but also goals when you have to be in the right place at the right time and some nasty goals.
“I remember one at Sunderland where he went to close the keeper down in the 90th minute. He ended up getting a tap-in.
“He’s come to England and he’s more English than anyone I’ve ever seen in the way he plays and in his approach. He has the whole package.”
By Jeremy Wilson, Telegraph
