Wednesday 20 September 2017 17:20, UK
Gary Neville has questioned Alexis Sanchez's focus at Arsenal this season following transfer speculation during the summer, saying the striker has looked "distracted".
Sanchez has been linked with a move to Manchester United when his contract expires at the end of the season, while Manchester City had a bid rejected for the Chile international during the transfer window.
While Neville believes his former side should always be competing to sign the best players of the world, he has been unimpressed with Sanchez's performances this season.
"Sanchez has been distracted at Arsenal for the last six months," said Neville, who was speaking at the official launch of University Academy 92.
"His career at Arsenal, I couldn't say a bad word about him until two or three months before the end of last season. I did feel he became distracted. Let's see how he performs this season at Arsenal.
"Ultimately he is still building up his fitness, he's still not in the team.
"What I saw from Arsenal [against Chelsea] on Sunday was a performance that I liked, and I've not said that too often about them in big games over the last four or five years. Sanchez wasn't on the pitch; Alex Iwobi and Danny Welbeck were playing [up front].
"What it showed for Arsenal on Sunday was that if you get players who work together and stick to a game plan, you can perform, sometimes better than with players who have got more talent.
"Sanchez has always been a hard worker. He needs to get back to doing that for Arsenal first because they've got big games coming up."
Neville was speaking at the official launch of University Academy 92, a joint venture to offer students from state school backgrounds a higher education.
