Arturo Vidal has revealed he urged Alexis Sanchez to leave Arsenal this summer in order to join a “big team” such as Bayern Munich.
The Chilean superstar’s future has been under the microscope for months amid contract negotiations and a 2016-17 campaign in which he scored 24 Premier League goals has inevitably landed him on the radar of Europe’s top clubs.
With reports suggesting Die Roten and the likes of Manchester City – who will both be playing Champions League football next season – are readying big money offers to sign Sanchez in the upcoming transfer window, Vidal says he advised his fellow countryman that moving from the Emirates is the best option to keep his career progressing.
“I told him [Sanchez] that it’s a big opportunity for him, to be in a big team,” he told reporters at the Santiago Airport.
“And if you want to compete with the big teams, you have to go to the best team in the world.”
Vidal and Sanchez are likely to be a part of the Chile side that will compete for next month’s Confederations Cup and after claiming another Bundesliga crown, the Bayern midfielder plans to finish the season with international silverware.
“I promised my wife and my children that I would return with the Confederations Cup, and the sacrifice I will make [to achieve that] will be very great,” he added.