Hector Bellerin Claims Alexis Sanchez Demanded 'Too Much' During His Time at Arsenal
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Arsenal's Hector Bellerin has downplayed a dressing room divide over recent departee Alexis Sanchez but the Spaniard did admit his former teammate had a demanding attitude which often proved 'too much' for the rest of the team.
The Chile international swapped the Emirates for Old Trafford in January - in a swap deal involving Henrikh Mkhitaryan - and his attitude at the club was often questioned after being forced to stay at the club in the first half of the season having failed to secure a move last summer.
In a Q&A session at the Oxford Union, Bellerin was questioned over whether his Arsenal teammates were relieved to see Sanchez leave in January.
"Alexis is an amazing player, for me one of the best players in the Premier League for sure. But he's a player who always wants to win. He demands from everyone, and sometimes it can be quite too much," Bellerin explained, via ESPN.
"But the good thing about him, he just wants to win, it doesn't matter who he's playing for. At that time when he was playing for Arsenal, he just wanted to give 100 percent for Arsenal.
This Bellerin shocker that Sanchez wanted to win too much! How the hell has our club come to this! He wanted to win too much? No Bellerin! you lot do not want to win enough! It starts from the Manager down! Not worthy of the badge!
— Den (@DM_AFC_69_888) February 13, 2018
"It's true that this season maybe things weren't going as well for him, but I truly believe that he was giving his 100 percent in every game."
The feeling from the outside had Arsenal legend, now TV pundit, Thierry Henry questioning whether the Gunners' dressing room were divided over Sanchez as a handful of players failed to celebrate the first of his two goals in the victory over Crystal Palace in December.
Bellerin denied the claims as he insisted his reason to stay back was justified, he said: "I remember even I stayed back, and I was talking to Calum Chambers because there was some tactical stuff that for me was more important to solve than going to celebrate a goal.
"And then the press comes out and says like, oh the dressing room is divided. And they sold that story. It's just the way it works, but what you see in the papers, they never actually know what's going on inside.
"As bad as people think it was, Alexis always wanted what is best for the club and us players wish him all the best."