According to the Evening Standard, Jack Wilshere is on the verge of signing a three-year contract extension at Arsenal.
The midfielder, 26, only has six weeks of his current deal left to run but has finally agreed on terms after protracted negotiations that have run for the best part of 18 months.
After an injury-hit couple of seasons, and a year on loan at Bournemouth, Wilshere returned to the Emirates last summer and went on to make 38 appearances in all competitions.
It wasn’t enough to earn him a place in England’s World Cup squad – Gareth Southgate cited a dip in form at the end of the season – but he showed flashes of the talent that saw him break into the first team a decade ago.
The Standard report that Wilshere will earn around £100,000 a week and that the contract continues to be performance incentivised, although he has to complete fewer minutes and appearances to trigger his maximum payment.
Good news for Jack. It’ll be interesting to see how he’s utilised by whoever replaces Arsene Wenger.
Good news, now just to tie down Rambo to a new long term deal
It feels like extending Wilshere’s contract is a decision made almost entirely to soften the blow of Rambo’s departure, and as such is utterly ill-conceived.
He had a couple of good games, but on the whole, Jack was really poor last season.
I cannot see why keeping Jack means Ramsey leaving. Wither the Europa league we need a large squad
Ridiculous comment, try again tomorrow
we can all have a field day with ridiculous comments because there’s no more thumbs up and down buttons. what happened to the buttons !?
Good for him.
Didn’t performed well during this season but showed better fitness and was great in some matches . Hopefully it turns out well for him and soon rambo signs da ting
Excellent option to have attacking from deep. Delighted we kept him
Big wage considering his injuries but I think although he was far from being brilliant this season he has shown enough to give him a chance to prove himself under a new manager. Nevertheless, if he plays next season like he played the last one, I would seriously consider to cash in on him then. But happy that he stays for now. Now please sort out Rambo! To lose him would be a real blow for this midfield which is already desperately in need of quality additions.
This will be an unpopular opinion but I wouldn’t have re-signed Jack for another three years and I would have let him go this summer. He has played more often this season but aside from a couple of games he hasn’t been at a level that I think we need in midfield. His injuries are still reoccurring to the extent that you can’t build your team around him or name him in your first choice eleven every week, you are essentially paying a guy £100,000 a week to be a squad player. Considering we are working on ‘reduced budgets’ this… Read more »
Everyone knows Wilshere is a class midfielder. With Arsenal definitely short of money, losing him for free won’t work definitely. Paying him better won’t work either. I think it’s a master stroke by Arsenal to pay him less than what he wanted and still keep him. With WC’s shock exclusion, I believe he will work harder and prove his doubters wrong. But still, if Wilshere didn’t plays well, Winter Transfer Window comes calling and it will be better to keep him now and cash in later than lose him on free
It’s hard being an attack minded midfielder when you arent given alot of freedom to actually attack. In my opinion Wilshere is good enough for a midfielder in a midfield of three. Honestly would rather sell Ozil (mostly because of his wages), as hes crippling us from becoming a top team, simply because playing with two in midfield is no longer used in top football (hes not a winger). Dont believe me? Look at the most succesful teams in the world and see how they all play with 3 in midfield. Even Guardiola didnt want to play with De Bruyne… Read more »
I worry this is happening because Ramsey’s off, was hoping wilshire would go to free up wages and a squad place- his contribution last season could easily be replaced by a youngster. Disappointing
it would be more cost effective to let ozil go, jack earns nothing compared to ozil
And Jack does nothing compared to Ozil.
Ramsey is twice the player that Jack is and Ozil even more so.
Maybe cost effective but from a footballing point of view would weaken the team. Ozil is still our most creative player
That’s because Wilshere has nothing on Ozil.
Having thought about it, Ramsey leaving needn’t be a bad thing providing we can get a good fee and can replace him. He’s a really niche player and very inflexible tactically. Ostensibly a centre midfielder but who’s go-to decision is to make off the ball runs ahead of the ball, leaving him constantly out of the game when we lose the ball. Could work in a 4-3-3 but not as one of the 2 in a 4-2-3-1. Especially when partnered with Ozil in midfield he leaves the other deep lying midfielder way too much to do defensively and in linking… Read more »
I like Rambo a lot but agree with most of this. Given we have a few more years of Ozil, and have added Mkhi we shouldn’t lack creativity. Equally Mkh, Aubumeyang and Lacazette look capable of getting plenty goals so we shouldn’t miss that too much.
Totally agree. When Ramsey was great for Wales he was playing in a much more advanced position, at times playing off the front man. He’s really good there but that’s where Ozil plays. I feel really sorry for Xhaka because he ends up doing a lot of covering when he’s not really suited to it. A bit like Arteta used to have to when he played alongside Ramsey. Don’t get me wrong I think Ramsey is a brilliant player but we’re putting square pegs in round holes again. If we’re not going to play him where he’s suited then we… Read more »
I also agree with this. Xhaka+Ramsey+Ozil doesn’t work. One of them should leave and the most obvious choice is the Player of the Year, who is running out of contract. As a replacement we need a matuidi -style run- all-over player to pair up with Ozil and Xhaka.
The annoying thing is Rambo could be an absolutely brilliant genuine box-to-box midfielder if he put his mind to it. He’s just chosen the absolute worst player to idolise: Steven Gerrard – all natural talent and physicality, but no brains. Personal glory before the team.
I don’t want to put him down too much cos he’s been a very good player for us over a long time, but he could have been / could be more if he was a bit smarter and more selfless. Part of that is on Wenger I guess.
Curtains for Ramsey?
If that’s what it takes, I’m sure we can run to a set of curtains for him. Maybe with a tasteful rhinoceros print.
that’s great news, im pleased for him
This sounds like bye bye Ramsey to me unfortunately
Boom outtta NOWHERE
Haha, since i’ve been deprived of my thumbocracy i’ll have to sheepishly admit that made me chortle a bit.
Maitland-Niles has much more to offer in the middle than Wilshere does, wouldn’t have been too upset if he had left to be honest. Fearful of Ramsey not renewing now.
You will say same of Niles in 5 years.
AMN is the replacement for Ramsey. Willock is also waiting in the wings, so we cannot afford the luxury of a CM, who plays as a forward neglecting the core duties he is supposed to perform.
Happy if he stays. Great attitude, determination, his grit is welcome. Regarding Ramsey I would believe he is waiting to see who’s the next manager is going to be. Another downside of having a possible unproven/underwhelming manager.
Hopefully Arteta can teach him how to be effective defensively despite not being much of an athlete.
I’ve always much preferred him in that deep lying midfield position but his lack of defensive ability kind of requires him being partnered with a specialist holding midfielder. Unless he were to improve that aspect of his game obviously
That’s what Giroud was on. Can’t really see him being worth that but whatever. All I want to hear now is the official announcement of Arteta.
Good for jack always routed for him..I love it when someone from our academy makes it but I’m a bit torn on this one..
He needs to be meticulously managed and If he can manage to play as many games as he did this season , he will improve and it will be a good move. Having what should be a youngish England international signed on for 3 years is good as well if it doesn’t work out there is a market value.
Naaa. The good news is that Nacho Monreal would be going to the World cup. This guy is everything I want our current players to have. Wow.
Nacho earned it. This guy is captain material.
yep i am happy he is in
This summer is a golden opportunity for Jack and Ramsey to work on their fitness and get in touch with their real selves.
Ramsey has played 300+ top flight games for us and 50+ caps for Wales.
Jack has 200+ top flight games and 30+ caps for England.
About time they got us challenging for the PL.
PS:None of that Theo Walcott’s ‘They wanted it more than us’ speech anymore.
Unfortunately what Theo said was reality 80% of time, the last three years. Players got used to losing, showing a disappointed face, tacking their bath, going home, getting paid,.buying the new sport car that they wanted and life goes on.
Somebody needs to stop this and that’s the reason, I do not want Arteta in the job. Give the money to Enrique or try to get Conte.
That’s the reason i want Arteta or Vieira in the job. You think these ex-gunners will tolerate what’s happening. Arteta will have a sense of accountability and he will not hesitate to be ruthless if needed.
What will an Allegri or Enrique or Conte do. It won’t matter to them if they fail at Arsenal. They’ll move on to the next gig.
We need a guy who truly gets the club.
They say it takes as long as a player was out injured for, for them to get back to their best. Given Jack’s career i’d stay he’s still in this recovery phase. But in the span of this three year contract i’d say there’s every chance we get a very decent footballer out of him. It could be much like Rosicky in the final three, four years of his time with us (though hopefully with less injuries).
Tough call this either way,
will be glad when it’s signed either way….
With Wilshere it’s always about the “if”. The fact that his season was underwhelming is only a disappointment if you expect him to play like he used to before all his injuries. Obviously he’s capable of better than this, IF he can stay fit and get the minutes he needs. Returning from an injury nightmare takes time.
Meh, at this stage I’m really not sure he’s good enough. Good squad player to have the option of using.
I like Jack as a character and he has been unlucky. Still think 100,000 a week is too much considering his situation though. A lot of our players have great contracts without having won many trophies. How much will they earn when they become champions?
Sign him up…with our transfer kitty as it is, this is a bargain. He already knows the system and needs to prove his point. Time to rise to the occasion.
COYGs
so is this really a creative 1 year extension? Think about it – at the end of next season he will have 2 years left and if he hasn’t done much we can sell him for a decent(ish) fee otherwise he enters the dreaded final 2 years of his contract Perhaps a 2 year contract at best This is positive though – clearly he isn’t the same player he could have been but can still add to the team and maybe under a new manager he can adapt his game to suit his physical limitations? A deep lying play maker… Read more »
My thoughts are with Jack in this trying times of watching the WC from his sofa as opposed to being with the lads in Russia
I’d rather we let him go, he’s done nothing over the course of his last deal to warrant a new one.
I think this is sensible from the club
Think about it. Theres no doubt that he has talent and on his day hes a potential World Class player which for me makes where he is now even more tragic as ive always believed that his lifestyle was the major factor for both the injuries and inconsistent performances.
But one more year to prove it and a chance for the club to recover any wages paid this year and a small profit if we sell. Hes at least worth £10m .
Blogs, for some reason when I try to give a thumbs up it’s telling me ‘you are not allowed to vote on this comment’.
I’m on an ipad running OS 11.2.
From the looks of the tallies I’m not the only one.
I tried to upvote this, but I wasn’t allowed :p
Same for my laptop (pc), so it’s not OS / plaftorm.
It’s a disgrace that a club of Arsenal’s size & income has to think about “freeing” up wages in order to compete.
Kroenke is killing our club.
That’s not on kroenke, it’s down to premier league rules only allowing a percentage increase over several years- our signings this year have pushed us to the limit
I love Arseblog and some of the memorable ‘people’ in the comment section but I cannot stand the discrepancy in how certain players are treated. Jack wilshere is a good player now but he was on center projected to be the next Gaza (maybe he will rise to that level and maybe he won’t anymore) but all this passion and future captain talk is bollox imo. Why? This guy has done more than Alex song or Van Persie and everyone is on his Johnson because he gets into squabbles on the pitch. I understand these two guys left the team… Read more »
I made several errors I that post.. Point is Jack has more hype than shamwow and I don’t approve.
“projected to be the next Gaza”
Well, his injury record isn’t great, but I’m struggling to see how he can be in a worse condition than the self governing Palestinian territory.
Rambo deal is the most important one. I think Wilshere deal is win-win! He provides decent squad depth, history at club, homegrown and a dribbler (not the best but we don’t have many).
Bye bye Aaron 🙁
Exactly why?
Why do so many assume by keeping Jack we will sell Ramsey. Surely with the Europa league we need a large squad so it makes sense to keep both of them
The general thinking is that arsenal were willing to let jack go, but have upped the wage offered due to them expecting Aaron to leave
I don’t understand this either. Like £20K a week extra has anything to do with whether Ramsey stays or goes. I don’t think our finances are that stretched.
Rambo going to Juventus.
Not bothered about Wilshere or Ramsey to be honest, but if we do keep them, and Mikel Arteta is the new manager, then they’ll both have to up their game and be a lot more discipllned. Jack’s sense of entitlement astounds me, but at least if he continues to be shite most of the time we’ll be able to get some money for him in January.
Bournemouth level player
100k? I wont offer more than 80k to be honest. We have enough midfielders earning that kind of money but tend to disappear in games when we need them most. He is unique, that is well regarded. But up to know, he was only consistent in patches (Thanks Theo).
£100K a week doesn’t go a long way these days. To replace the guy with another midfielder of similar quality you can expect they are going to want to be equally remunerated.
He did have a good first half of the season and in numerous games was arguably our best player. I think he was just overplayed in the end and looked jaded and lethargic in games.
Still he got through more games this season then 2010/2011 so maybe his injury woes are behind him? I don’t think it’s bad business to be fair.
It looks like the voting isn’t working. So I can say that Wilshere is a useless, hopeless, pathetic piece of rubbish who should have been sold years ago!
So there!
Yeh well….you’re fat!
He’s been good when he is 100% fit. Plus he bleeds Arsenal 100% Trouble is he doesn’t seem to be able to sustain his power over consecutive matches and seems to drop. It will be imperative to get another mid into the mix. 1) AMN has been great utility but I think he should strictly push Bellerin now for Rback. 2) Granit has improved and is an asset for us in terms of releasing the ball quickly from deep. His defensive work has also gotten better. BUT he is not entirely a defensive shield. If paired with Jack he could… Read more »