Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere rejected a huge contract offer from Birmingham City to stay with the Gunners on deadline day, according to reports.

There was plenty of interest in Wilshere on deadline day as several clubs looked to take him loan. One of those clubs was Championship side Birmingham City. And according to the Express, Birmingham were so eager to sign him that they were willing to offer him a salary of £4.67m.

I’m not entirely sure how Birmingham could afford that, and we’ll never find out as Wilshere decided that he couldn’t drop down a division. It would have been an incredible fall from grace to go from Premier League starter and England international to playing in the second division. Wilshere is struggling, but he’s not at that level just yet.

Barring something remarkable happening during the season, this is likely to be Wilshere’s last year with the Arsenal as his contract expires in the summer and there’s no new deal on the horizon. The 25-year-old’s next goal is to gain match fitness and scavenge as many first team minutes with Arsenal as he can.

There’s a possibility that Wilshere will feature for the first-team in the Carabao Cup and in the Europa League this season, provided he’s fit enough to do so.