Ahead of the crucial game against Manchester City next Monday, Arsène Wenger had some positive news involving Alexis Sánchez.

It was expected that the encounter with the Citizens would come too soon for the Chilean winger. Good news is that recent progress might lead to him actually featuring in that game at some point. Although Alexis is running again, he is not yet back in full training yet, according to Wenger.

Wenger told the press:

We are quite far from the game but at the moment, everybody who played against Aston Villa is available for Monday night and there are one or two possible comebacks. Maybe there is a slight chance for Alexis to be in the squad again but it is too early to be sure about it.

Obviously this news will be welcomed by Arsenal fans all around the globe, but Wenger has explained that Alexis wants to play whenever possible and sometimes has to be protected against himself.

The Frenchman said that he sees it as a compliment if everyone wants to play each game and that he is very happy with the current mentality in the squad. However, sometimes it is hard to trust the players to be honest about their fitness:

It is not trust in a negative way. Some of them are so keen to forget that they have pain somewhere that they say they are alright when they are not. You know the players and their psychological profile, you take that into account, then you get scientific advice and you trust your gut as well and then you make a decision.

Wenger was asked if he was going to make the decision instead of Alexis himself:

Yes, because he says he’s always ready.

Image Credits: Ronnie Macdonald, CC BY 2.0 license.