Thibaut Courtois believes Arsenal will miss Alexis Sanchez if he leaves Arsenal this summer, but admits Chelsea's London rivals are going to remain a major force.
Sanchez's future at Emirates Stadium is still in a lot of doubt despite manager Arsene Wenger maintaining his stance that the striker is not for sale.
It has been suggested that Sanchez could hand in a transfer request to force a move to Manchester City, while Paris Saint-Germain have also been in the hunt.
Sanchez has scored 72 goals in three years at Arsenal but the north London club, who face Chelsea in the Community Shield on Sunday, have bought Alexandre Lacazette from Lyon for a club-record £52million this summer.
In Pictures | Alexis Sanchez at Arsenal
And Courtois said: "Alexis is a guy with a lot of quality. If you see all the games from last season there is a lot of danger coming from him.
"He has a very strong shot, he is quick. He has the technique. He is important for them but Arsenal have a lot of players with quality.
"So they will miss him but I think they have a lot of players with that quality to replace him. I think they have bought a good new striker (in Lacazette).
"I’d prefer if he (Sanchez) doesn’t play because he is a good player! But we cannot only look to him.
"For example in the FA Cup Final (Arsenal beat Chelsea 2-1 in May) they missed some defenders and everybody thought they would be bad. But Per Mertesacker played a great game that day.
"So you cannot look to the team as one player or another player. It will be a difficult game regardless but I hope for the same outcome as the friendly last week."
