Football
Dermot Corrigan, Madrid correspondent 10y

Stoichkov laments Alexis Barca exit

Ex-Barcelona star Hristo Stoichkov says Barcelona's directors have proved they "know nothing about football" by selling Alexis Sanchez to Arsenal.

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Chile attacker Sanchez has joined the Gunners for a fee of around 30 million pounds, with the move having been sanctioned by the Barca board as part of a general shake-up of the squad ahead of the new season.

Most fans and pundits around the Camp Nou have accepted the move given Sanchez never quite settled during his three seasons at the club, and the Catalans are set to use the money raised to part-finance an 80 million euro move for Liverpool's Luis Suarez.

However former Bulgaria international Stoichkov, currently working as a TV pundit at the World Cup in Brazil, said in AS that for him the transfer did not make sense as Alexis had proven he deserved a place in the Barca team.

"Because of those who do not understand football we must sell the best player we have at Barca," Stoichkov said. "The policy of Barca was always like this, they do not like great players. [Alexis] is the best player for his pace, his battling qualities. He fights for every ball, he plays for the team. I like his mentality. He is leaving with his head high. He is a decisive player."

Stoichkov himself won five La Liga titles and the 1992 Champions League as a Barca player, but left the Camp Nou amid much bitterness after he fell out with then coach Louis Van Gaal during the 1997-98 campaign.

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