Arturo Vidal beats Alexis Sanchez to win the Chile Footballer of the Year award
In Chile, two of the country's biggest footballers were fighting head to head recently to win Chile's best player of the year award for 2016. The two players who were in the line for their country's prestigious award are Bayern Munich's Arturo Vidal and Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez. It has been an eventful year for the duo as they helped their country win the Copa America Centenario with a win over Lionel Messi’s Argentina in the final.
Vidal, the Bavarian midfield general has been named as Chile's Footballer of the Year for 2016 much to the disappointment of Alexis Sanchez who must feel aggrieved after having a brilliant calendar year for the Gunners. The 29-year-old midfielder had a successful season for Bayern Munich as he won the league title in May along with winning medals in DFB-Pokal and DFB-Supercup. He has formed a solid midfield trio at the Allianz Arena alongside Xabi Alonso and Thiago Alcantara.
After a successful stint with Juventus, Vidal joined the German giants last summer and made 30 appearances last season and contributed with four goals. In the 2016-17 season, the Chilean has made 13 appearances and also scored a goal for the Carlo Ancelotti-managed side.
Meanwhile, Sanchez is currently enjoying a dream season for Arsenal as he is the league's second-highest goalscorer with 12 goals in 17 appearances, just one behind Chelsea's Diego Costa. His form in front of the goal at the start of the season was crucial for the Gunners to be close to the top of the table but a recent blip in results has seen them falling behind in the title race with Wenger's men currently nine points behind leaders, Chelsea.
Sanchez must be disappointed after losing out on the prestigious award after being Arsenal's main man this calendar year. He also has created 44 chances for his teammates this season which is the club's best at the moment. Surprisingly, despite having an illustrious career with Barcelona and Arsenal, the marauding forward has never won the Chile Footballer of the Year award which can be said as Chile's loss.
He is also in talks with the club over a new deal as both the parties have been stuck on the players’ wage demands with Sanchez expecting a huge pay rise after a stellar year for the Londoners.