• Premier League

Signing Sanchez can win Arsenal the title - Arteta

Rob Bartlett
July 10, 2014
Alexis Sanchez is said to have cost around £30m

Arsenal duo Mikel Arteta and Santi Cazorla say new signing Alexis Sanchez can propel the club to Premier League title success.

Sanchez was finally announced as an Arsenal player on Thursday having completed his long-awaited move from Barcelona for an undisclosed fee. Arteta, whose agent said he wants to stay at Arsenal, hailed his arrival and said the Chilean can give the club the pace they have been lacking.

"I'm delighted, he's the sort of player we are looking for," Arteta told ESPN. "I think he'll bring so many good things to the club and the squad.

"He's got experience and I think he's a very gifted player. He's very strong in a one-on-one situation and that's what we need up front - someone to make the difference. He's that kind of player.

"I want him to be ready because lots of other teams are fighting and bringing in good players, but if we can maintain our structure, we'll have a good chance [of winning the title]."

Arteta added: "Arsenal are a club that is very good on the break, very good at exploiting space. I think with Sanchez we will be much more difficult to handle. We have been missing that pace in behind. Sometimes we played with Cazorla, [Olivier] Giroud, [Jack] Wilshere up front - and we had no pace."

Fellow midfielder Cazorla, whose superb free-kick in the FA Cup victory against Hull helped Arsenal end their nine-year wait for a trophy, was equally impressed with their new signing and believes Sanchez will help the club challenge for top honours.

"He's a fantastic player and a first class player," Cazorla said. "He will bring even more quality to the side which is why we're all very happy about it.

"We can focus on the new season and try to win the Premier League. The FA Cup win took a lot of pressure off us so it was great to end nine years without a trophy, it was very big. We will now go into the new season and try to achieve the same again."

Sanchez is not only getting members of the current Arsenal squad talking; the forward also earned the seal of approval from club legend Thierry Henry:

Sanchez could soon be joined by Mathieu Debuchy and Loic Remy, with the club thought to be closing in on deals for both players.

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