Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has insisted that the club always comes first when negotiating new contracts with players, hinting that he will not budge on the deal offered to Alexis Sanchez.
The Chile international could be on his way out of North London in the summer after recently suggesting that he wants to be at a club with a "winning mentality".
Sanchez will soon enter the final 12 months of his current terms at the Emirates Stadium, leading to talk of a move away at the end of the season as the Gunners fear losing him on a free transfer next year.
Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain are the two sides reportedly leading the race to sign the 28-year-old, who has netted 18 times in 30 Premier League appearances this season.
It was claimed earlier this week that Sanchez is holding out for a mammoth £300,000-a-week contract to stay at the club, making him the highest-paid player in the English top flight, but Wenger will not bow to these demands.
"Some people tell me 'Just give him what he wants'. But then you cannot respect anymore the wage structure and you put the club in trouble as well," he is quoted as saying by The Mirror. "Always, the club has to be the priority.
"I understand as well that top players is a big priority, but at the end of the day even for important players you can only pay as much as you can afford. I think every club and every player has to make decisions. Where are your priorities? Where do you want to play?
"I think the first priority for top players is to play with the best players and in the best league. It is not where we have to make a choice - 'I go to China, because you earn big money.'
"You make big money in England as well. So you can combine the best combination of playing at the top and big money is in England at the moment. So China, for me, is not a debate."
Sanchez, in the running to win the PFA Player of the Year award, is understood to currently be earning around £130,000 a week.
Daniel Lewis
