Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has admitted that he should have allowed Alexis Sanchez to leave before the season began.

The Chile international was heavily linked with a switch to Manchester City last summer, but the North London outfit ended up refusing a sale.

During the first half of the campaign, Sanchez's commitment was questioned and eventually he left the Emirates when the transfer window reopened in January.

Rather than join Pep Guardiola's side, the 29-year-old signed for their local rivals Manchester United in a swap deal that resulted in Henrikh Mkhitaryan moving in the other direction to Arsenal.

While speaking to BT Sport, the Frenchman said: "Of course it is a new start for us because of the uncertainty of the transfer period is over, because we have new players, and because we have to show that we have done well in the transfer market, that we have made the right decisions.

"There was a lot of uncertainly around the team, with the Sanchez case, the Ozil case, and in hindsight maybe we should have cut that early. For [Sanchez] it was very difficult because as soon as he had a game and was average he was questioned every time: 'Is he committed, is he not committed?' I never questioned his commitment but it was a difficult situation."

Following Sanchez's departure, the Gunners sealed the signature of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Borussia Dortmund.