According to The Mirror, it’s looking increasingly likely that Jack Wilshere will leave Arsenal on a free when his current deal ends in 13 days.
The 26-year-old has been offered an incentive-heavy extension by the club hierarchy, however, it’s suggested that new boss Unai Emery, despite wanting the player to stay, has refused to guarantee him a starting place. Quite why any incoming manager would guarantee a starting place to anyone in his squad is beyond us. It sounds like a throwaway line, but there we go.
Wilshere has repeatedly said he’d be keen to stay at Arsenal but, ultimately, he has to think what’s best for his career and whether he’ll get enough football at the Emirates.
The Gunners have extended the contracts of Mesut Ozil, Mohamed Elneny, Granit Xhaka and Ainsley Maitland-Niles in the last four months, which, coupled with the acquisition of Henrikh Mkhitaryan makes for a competitive midfield. The club is also trying to tie down Aaron Ramsey to a new deal and it looks as though Sampdoria’s Lucas Torreira will be signed sooner rather than later.
Crystal Palace, West Ham United, Everton, Juventus and AC Milan have all been tipped to lure Wilshere away. There’s even talk that newly promoted Wolves could make a move, so, unsurprisingly, he’s not short of suitors.
It’s hard to tell which of the above is leading the chase, although Palace boss Hodgson, the last England manager to give the midfielder a cap, is known to be a fan. It would certainly be sad to see Jack go.
Hmm.. says he wants to stay here but refused to fight for his spot in the first team. If he wasn’t an Arsenal player and an Arsenal academy product, it would have been easier to want rid of him.
Refused to? Didn’t he fight for his place last season ?
Unfortunately for him, bar a couple of good moments, he wasn’t consistent enough to displace any of the other midfielders. Xhaka, Ramsey and Elneny all did better.
He was previously refused a guaranteed start and he immediately went out on loan. He came back after realising it didn’t work and gave his all. Instead of showing this new manager how good he can be for Arsenal, he’s opting to run again.
One could argue the money is an added factor but, after Bournemouth, one would really have hoped he’d have weighed things up more.
Funny how so many people pick and choose what to believe from the press to suit their narrative.
I will wait until we see what jack says before throwing him to the wolves.
So at this time, you’re against any move to Wolverhampton. I get that.
Jack’s had 1 foot out the door since the Bournemouth switch. His head / commitment to the club hasn’t been the same since
I don’t buy in to that, but I do agree that if he really wants to stay the right thing to do is what the club is doing. We want you here, but you play by the same standards as any other player in the club, and your value is what it is. Earn your starts.
If the contract he is offered is heavily weighted based on appearances then I can understand why he might want some guarantees associated with selection.
After years of injuries (and years of supporting other injury-prone players) can you appreciate why the club has drawn the line and offered such a contract? If he has no more injury woes, then there’d be a case to offer him a regular contract. But not when his injury troubles are so fresh.
And, although I admit his and my lifestyles are wildly different, £100k a week is hardly an amount to turn your nose up at. That’s the least he’d receive.
Bye, bye Jack. A career wasted
Weird that Jack feels he deserves a starting position after years of injuries and average performances. If he thinks he’s better off at Palace or West Ham than fighting for a place at Arsenal then so be it. Shame as he’s arsenal through and through, but I don’t think Emery will lose any sleep over this.
He doesn’t believe that. It’s just media lies.
That he’d wants a guaranteed starting place, that he’s likely to end up at one of those clubs or that he’s Arsenal through and through?
Care to clarify which is the media lie?
Indifferent to him staying or going but the era of Wenger allowing them to do what they like is long gone. COYG. …
I can live without Jack in the squad. If Torreira is going to be signed it’ll get quite crowdy in the centre of the pitch.
Deutscher? weil ‘Crowdy’. Nicht böse gement 🙂
The ball is very much in Jack’s court here, it’s up to him to prove he’s a starter for the new manager. He’s a victim of his own talent for us in a way as he started so well that it almost maybe gave him a guaranteed route into the team apart from the last couple of seasons. It’s such a shame he’s had so many injuries. I think he’d do really well for a team like palace and might finally get back to his best. Good luck wherever he goes.
No ‘real’ Arsenal man demands a place in the starting 11 instead of actually working for it. He has a major sense of entitlement, despite having an incredibly poor record in terms of goals and assists.
Jack is a hungry dude who owed Wenger everything. Fiercely loyal to Wenger over Arsenal maybe. Or maybe it’s just easy to make up drama.
He’s looking like he’s hungry for guarantees he doesn’t deserve. He’s had one relatively injury free season for the first time in 5 years. Unless he’s playing it down anf Emery said “I don’t see you fitting into my team and you can leave”, I don’t see how he’s totally justified in being upset he isn’t guaranteed a starting position…
I’d be disappointed to see him leave. I love it that he’s a proper gunner. In saying that, the clubs linked to him, apart from Juventus, are all a bit underwhelming. Maybe this is his level now though? Bit sad about it all.
It’s not realistic that he’s going to be assured a place in Juventus’ midfield either, or any top 4 team in Italy/Germany/Spain or top 6 in England. He’s going to have to lower his sights, and the clubs he’s linked to are realistic places where he’ll get assured time. Ideally he’d fight for his place, but that doesn’t seem to be the case, although this is all hearsay
that’s your opinion
He’s earning a fortune by most of our standards, it is hard to relate to most footballers nowadays. I hoped he’d stay but I’m sure his agent is pushing for even more money.
We have too much competition at Arsenal (good for us). Maybe best for him to try to shine at a smaller club.
On contraire, I think it’s in his best interests to stay. I think Wilshere is one of those midfielders who would thrive off of playing alongside quality players. Having top quality players in front of u making good runs into good areas and spaces can help you play better in the midfield and bag assists.
I think the best thing he could do for his career is stay at Arsenal.
On the contrary, at the end of the day the club’s best interests should be most important. He’s Arsenal through and through but I think the last couple seasons have been tough on him and will see him fall victim to the new regime.
The best every Arsenal goal is arguably that goal he engineered and scored few seasons ago.
All likely to be gone now, unfortunately, Giroud, Santi and probably Jack.
The ruthless nature of the way Emery is going about in sorting his players’ contracts is really telling…..I am really enjoying the clarity in transfers and contracts…I really hated the Sanchez and Ozil saga….
Is Emery the one sorting players contracts out though? Wouldn’t that be Huss Fahmy? Other than what this article says about Emery telling Wilshire he’s not guaranteed a starting position, I don’t think we’ve any indication yet of how ruthless Emery has/will be with players contracts. This one is seemingly being drawn out and I hope Ramsey’s doesn’t go down the same route.
FYI, as been stated a thousand times, the idea that Emery is the one “sorting out contracts” is archaic and not true. Sure he decides who he wants in the squad, but he’s not the one dealing with the contracts, that’s been made clear countless times.
I’m just pointing it out because now what will happen is if a player’s contract isn’t sorted or a bad player is signed, people still thinking of “the manager” will pin blame on Emery, when there’s now a collective responsibility.
Managers are not lawyers, therefore I never thought or expected Wenger to be renewing or sorting contracts. However, Lawyers cant act without any input from the manager. That being said, under Wenger, seemingly, contract negotiations were an elaborate and lengthy process. I imagine that Emery is much more clear in what he would like each player’s performance contract (starting line up guarantees etc) would look, and communicates this message clearly to the legal team…
“Without input from the manager” As I said, we don’t have a “manager” anymore. Wenger was involved in contract negotiations, even if he didn’t write up the final contract (the lawyers did), but it was known he was involved in the negotiation process, as manager. As Emery is the Head Coach, his role doesn’t go beyond “yes, I want this player/I really want this player/He is a key part of my plan/he can go” and the rest is handled by Sehllehi(sp?), Fahmy and all the other legal intermediaries involved. It’s good that it’s publicly known to decouple Emery from this… Read more »
I agree, “Wenger Out” !!!!!
Sorry to be a pain and post something completely unrelated to this story (think most of us are pretty much in agreement over the Wilshere situation by this point), but as this comment section is generally a more balanced place than most online forums, I thought I’d see what people here thought about the absolute #TWITTERSTORM our friend gunnerblog got himself caught up in regarding his Ozil tweet yesterday. It’s just I’m one of those in disagreement with his thoughts tbh. I don’t like how it perpetuates this idea that playing Ozil in a free role has to be some… Read more »
To see the wizard weave his magic, one needs to ensure that there are two, or maybe three warriors to deflect direct attacks on said wizard. I agree with you, Coq and Santi ensured that the midfield was not breached, and Ozil performed magic regularly. Xhaka and Ramsey, for all the physical superiority they enjoy over Santi and Coq, were half the knights that they were. And Ozil has struggled the past two seasons. Maybe Torreira, with Xhaka or Ainsley, could provide the balance. Kroos and Khedira were pretty woeful against Mexico, and Ozil suffered as a direct consequence. Having… Read more »
Some slight revisionism going on here. “Coq and Santi ensured that the midfield was not breached” They performed better than what we currently had, but they still got breached on a regular. It was a forerunner to the type of midfield that was required, but this wasn’t the case. “and Ozil performed magic regularly” Against lesser teams. It was still a hot topic of contention on this very site that during the big games, his influence waned significantly. There is no doubt of the magic Mesut brings, but the jury is still out if what he brings is worth the… Read more »
Totally agree. Truthfully a big part of the reason I brought this up, is because there’s been an argument about Ozil at number 10 that has really wound me up for a while. I know this wasn’t James’ position, but there are certain fans who frequently use the word ‘indulge’ to describe Ozil at number 10. The media’s perception of him as lazy, and now the big contract, have created the idea with some that Ozil’s this prima-donna who needs to be ‘indulged’ in order to draw a decent level of performance, and that just feels wrong to me. As… Read more »
Tbf, this didn’t come out of thin air. Even in an interview on Arsenal Player to Ramsey, they asked him who was the “Teacher’s pet” and he said without hesitation it was Ozil, and he could get whatever he wanted by entering Wenger’s office and having a word, and Wenger indulged him. It was all said in “jest” of course, but it was clear there was truth to it. As someone else said, Ozil on the forward 3 makes sense, but does what he bring (creativity to the max) justify the losses (exposing Bellerin, being too narrow, not anywhere near… Read more »
Wengers pet has always been Ramsey, and there was something really snidey about the way he answered that question. Mesut isn’t the most robust player on the pitch and he’s not good at tackling, but he certainly isn’t lazy or any sort of liability. Hopefully our new manager will be selecting players based on their suitability against the opponent, instead of one team run into the ground and another rotting on the bench. There is no better playmaker anywhere than Mesut, and with good mobile strikeforce in front of him and a pitbull like Torrera behind him I think we… Read more »
“Pitbull like Torriera”
It’s funny, I’m getting a deja vu about Torrieira, being described as something he may not be, like how people were expecting Xhaka to be this defensive destroyer.
It was only last week on the Arseblog podcast where they interviewed that Italian journalist who regularly watches the team and he described Torrieira as not that type of player.
Interesting questions lie ahead of us, as this season shapes up. New moments to cherish, and a new direction 🙂
Fanboys with pitchforks, lol.
ozil is a luxury for arsenal, he doesn,t have a role at arsenal, he just wanders aroun the the pitch trying to look good, but now people see him for what he really is, he cant hide anymore, so I think he will have to improve 100 percent under emery or I think he will be shown the door
He definitely doesn’t wander around the pitch trying to look good, so that I refute, but there is a danger that he is becoming a luxury player and I suspect with the new “pressing” play that Emery wants to play, he will need to shape up. On his current wage packet it’s unlikely we can ship him out anywhere.
Surely no player is guaranteed a first team spot.
Who said that Unai Emery has refused to guarantee Jack a starting place in the team, John Cross?
Was John Cross at the meeting?
It’s all about money, this is Jacks last big contract and he wants to maximise it, just like Ramsey, it’s what players and agents do.
Players are also competitive & Jack loves playing for England. If he simply sits on the bench the next 3 years his England career will be over (already looks likely it is under Southgate at least) & he won’t get much on his next contract (when he will only be 29ish). The days of players playing regardless of form simply b/c Wenger loved them are truly over if Emery has actually told Jack he will be a fringe player.
We’ve now got quite a few CDM players of decent quality. Xhaka, Elneny, Ramsey (if he signs), Torreira (if he comes), AMN, and Willock. And although none are as consistently good as Kante or Casemiro there just isn’t room for Wilshere and certainly not at £90K pw or more. What’s more I’m pretty certain he wouldn’t even get on the bench if everyone was fit. The first two seasons under Emery are inevitably going to be, in part, rebuilding the squad and letting players go are part of that process. At this point in the transfer window we should just… Read more »
He wouldn’t get on the pitch if everyone is fit?
Assume a starting trio of Xhaka, Torreira and Ramsey…
Bench: GK, Def 1, Def 2, Iwobi, Welbeck and Lacazette
1 spot left.
Jack, El Neny or AMN.
I’m Egyptian but I would still pick Jack lol…
If Jack’s thinking about what’s “best for his career”, he has to either take Arsenal’s offer or make that leap to a good side in Italy or Spain where the slower pace combined with his passing range and ability to burst through lines could see him really excel. He’s tried being in a mid table side with average players at Bournemouth, and it was hardly the most successful – does he really think going to Palace, West Ham or Wolves will be any different? Or get him back into the England side? I understand the concerns about moving a young… Read more »
I’m from Stevo, he could afford to get em out there, but even Jack couldn’t afford the bar bill!!!!! 😉
Best he goes. Why Sign 5yrs contract only to play 6 months good football? Best football comes in the final year of contract…??. I’m over it.
I hope its just paper talk about being interested in nzonzi, because to sign nzonzi and let jack go, for me would be a backward step, as jack is miles better than nzonzi, but if jack does go, he deserves to go to Juventus or milan, but hodgson might get the best out of him at palace, good luck jack where ever you end up, you will be sorely missed
Despite all the fans and Wenger kept on repeating for years, Wilshere has never felt as “Arsenal” as some wanted him to be. First, leaving to Bournemouth to not fight and second, taking this ridiculous excuse to leave. How on earth could someone be assured to be a starter especially as mediocre a player as he is. NO player is a guaranteed starter!
It sure would be sad to see him go, but at this point, it’s Arsenal first. No decent new coach would give a player with his history guarantees.
On a related development, I watched Stephan Liechsteiner yesterday against Brazil. He can still perform at the highest level, believe me. He was joining attack at will; there was one passage of play he was the furthest Swiss player!
I think Bellerin has a job on his hands keeping him on the bench next season.
Quite an astute signing.
Sadly some tough decisions have to be made if we want to be better than the last decade. There were always one too many potential injuries in Arsene’s squad, even if it is not those players fault.
I’ve mentally prepared to move forward. We’re going in a new, high-pressing direction, and sadly Jack’s legs have gone and can’t handle that or provide the defensive nous we need. I tell you what though, if he’s smart and brave, he should be any of Sampdoria, Juve or Milan (or even Roma who were apparently interested last season). Those leagues are so much better, not just slower and technical (thus not pushing his body to the limits), but they really value the “deep-lying playmaker” there, which is IMO is the best direction for his future. He can truly display his… Read more »
Let him go. It has become stale with him. Just that signing a player of his calibre would take at least 20m.
This is the right move, if we’re keeping Rambo? Then we can’t afford to have two injury prone box2box midfielders, if Rambo pops a hamstring? Then we can’t rely on his competition to play twice in a week, let alone three times.
Also Wilshere’s done nothing to warrant a new deal since 2010/11
Sad but the right decision
It’s been well said by others, but going abroad seems to the biggest no brainer for Jack. He no longer has the legs to really excel in the PL, especially in the pressing game that most of the top 6 now employ. Most of his options appear to be teams in the mid to lower 1/2 of the table & being a squad player at Arsenal. Given how much he values playing for England – he pretty much killed his Arsenal career IMO by going to Bournemouth simply to get back into the England squad- wouldn’t he be better served… Read more »
100% THUMBS UP.
Fuck him.
Your insults are unwarranted, even if Jack leaves he will always be an Arsenal man. Insulting is not necessary
Ken Friar’s an Arsenal man. Jack Wilshire’s an anyone who’ll pay me man.
This is the example of why there’s no point being loyal to clubs as a player, as too many fans think like you.
This is an example of why there’s no point being loyal to club’s as a fan, as too many fans think like you.
This is an example of a statement which doesn’t make any sense.
True dat.
With Wenger leaving Arsenal, the old days are gone. Wenger was more of a father figure to most players hence his decisions. I kinda feel we have entered into a less emotional period at arsenal and that means Wilshere can decide to sign the offer on the table or go elsewhere. Its sad that he hasn’t fulfilled his enormous potential due to injuries. If he stays, it will be a good one to see if he can overcome the psychological barrier of those and recapture the burst of pace, drive and heart that has been the hallmark of his game.… Read more »
Lets face it, if he wasn’t English would we be making such a fuss?
If West Ham, Palace and Everton, all MEH teams are the sum of his ambition instead of something fresh, new and exciting at his boyhood club, then see ya.
This was his first full season after a long injury. He was slower, both in movement and tought, than five years ago. But Wilshere is brave and I think he can improve. Neither is our midfield sorted. Would have liked him to stay, as an option from the bench.
Inevitable. We’ve wanted a manager to show some ruthlessness for some time. This is ruthlessness.
I need that no. 10 shirt for Özil, even if Wilshere stays. But it seems he has to leave for that to happen, well then…
He should go abroad if that’s an option. Italy will suit him better.