Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger: Alexis Sanchez has the potential to be as good as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo

Arsenal FC via Getty Images
Sam Long9 September 2016

Arsene Wenger believes Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez has the potential to be as good as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Sanchez, who joined Arsenal in 2014 after being surplus to requirements at Barcelona, has established himself as a key member of the Gunners' side in recent years.

The 27-year-old scored 13 Premier League goals last season and is regularly referred as the north London club's most influential player.

Messi and Ronaldo, meanwhile, have shared a stranglehold on the Ballon d'Or for the last eight years and are widely regarded as the best two players on the planet.

But the Chilean is adamant he is already operating on the same level as his rivals and Wenger believes his star man is capable of reaching heights similar to those of the Barcelona and Real Madrid superstars.

"He[Sanchez] is ambitious and, of course, he is a guy who wants to win every single game," Wenger insisted.

"It's good to have that kind of ambition.

"He has the potential and the quality and it's just up to him to show that.

"Ronaldo and Messi have done it for years so the consistency of their performances speaks for them. I hope Alexis can get that," he added.

Arsenal training 07/09/2016

1/20

Sanchez has been used as a central striker for Arsenal this season but could return to a wide role on the left when the Gunners face Southampton this weekend.

Wenger's side are already five points off the Premier League's pacesetters and require a positive result against the Saints to ensure they do not lose any further early ground on their title rivals.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in