Jack Wilshere has claimed that his former Arsenal teammate, Alexis Sanchez, was better than Robin van Persie, as he told talkSPORT.
The former England midfielder shared that both players, who left Arsenal for Manchester United in their careers, were ‘unbelievable’.
Of course, Sanchez’s time at Old Trafford, after being involved in that infamous swap deal with Henrikh Mkhitaryan in 2018, was a lot different to what Van Persie did.
The Dutchman left a stagnating Arsenal side to help Manchester United win the Premier League title.
On that front, Van Persie has the medal around his neck, whilst Sanchez won numerous FA Cups during his days in Arsenal colours.
But Wilshere, who trained with them both in north London, picked the now Inter Milan star when asked to choose between the two.
“This is tough,” said Wilshere. “This is the toughest one because they were both unbelievable.
“I am probably going to have to say Alexis because I played with him for longer.
“As good as Robin was, he didn’t have the pace of Alexis. He was that one player that didn’t give us much defensively, but it didn’t really matter because we trusted him when we got the ball.
“He could beat someone and win a game for us.”
Even though Van Persie had injury problems during his early Arsenal days, he still was one of the best strikers in the country during periods of his time at the club.
Van Persie played a more central role than Sanchez and scored 132 goals in 278 games for the Gunners, including supplying 58 assists.
As for Sanchez, who played out wide, as well as upfront under Arsene Wenger, scored 80 goals and supplied 45 assists in 166 matches for the club.
Even though Sanchez won the Serie A title with Inter last season, many will feel his career has gone backwards since he left the Emirates Stadium.
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