Why Alexis Sanchez could be returning to Arsenal as the most exhausted man in world football

Alexis Sanchez is unlikely to ever ask for a day off work, but it is probably time one of his managers forced him to have a rest.

After a domestic season in which Sanchez played in every single one of Arsenal's Premier League and Champions League matches, as well as five out six games on the way to FA Cup glory, he has helped Chile to the final of the Confederations Cup.

Chile's participation in Russia has ensured Sanchez plays a fourth consecutive summer of international football. He is not the sort to take it easy at a tournament that, realistically, few will remember once it is done. Can you remember who won the 2013 Confederations Cup?

He played at the World Cup in 2014 and the Copa America the following two years. Assuming Chile make it to Russia 2018 and he plays at the 2019 Copa America, Sanchez will go between 2013 and 2020 without a summer off. The run could be extended another year if he plays at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

As with this year's Confederations Cup, Sanchez and Chile made it to the final (winning both times) of the last two editions of the Copa America. He played a key role at both, scoring the winning penalty in the 2015 final and winning best player as Chile retained their title a year later.

On Sunday, he'll play yet in another final, having also featured in every game on the way there, while other players sun themselves in exotic parts of the world or a field at Glastonbury.

The sheer volume of football he plays means, aged 28, he is already Chile's most capped player and their leading all-time goalscorer.

Sanchez clearly loves playing as much as possible and is one of the fittest players around. He suffered five injuries over the course of the 2016/17 season, according to Physioroom.com, yet he barely missed a game. An injury for Sanchez usually means an appearance from the bench rather than a start.

That said, his form at the start of the domestic season suffers. Arsene Wenger will give players that have played a summer of football extra time off in order to return to fitness, and the team suffers as a result.

In Sanchez's three seasons at Arsenal, their win percentage over their opening four matches of the season is just 41.7 per cent (five wins from 12 matches), while they win 59 per cent of the rest of their games.

In those 12 early-season games, Sanchez has scored just three goals - or once every four matches. In his remaining 91 Premier League appearances, he has 50 goals - or one every 1.82 matches.

Sanchez's busy schedule is not the definitive reason for Arsenal's campaigns routinely falling apart, they have wider problems which seem to resurface year upon year. But they lose ground early on each season and an over-reliance on their exhausted star man does not help.

Sanchez thrives as the player upon whom a team leans heavily, and he wouldn't want it any other way. After a fourth summer in a row of tournament football, he deserves a prolonged rest. Without wanting to devalue the Confederations Cup or international football too much, it should really have been this year that Sanchez had a few months off.

He might well leave Arsenal before the summer is out, but should he return to the Emirates, it could be Wenger's team that suffers the after-effects of Sanchez playing at yet another international tournament.