Former Arsenal striker Paul Mariner told Jack Wilshere to leave the North London club and join up with Manuel Pellegrini at West Ham United, speaking on ESPN this week.

The ex-centre forward gave his thoughts on Wilshere to ESPN FC, as the 26-year-old’s Arsenal contract comes to an end.

“He needs to get a new challenge, it’s too comfortable at Arsenal,” he explained. “I think if he goes to West Ham, they will ask some serious questions, new manager in there.

“I’d like to see Jack going, I’d like to see him go to a new club. I think at West Ham they’re in a bit of a rebuild phase, new manager comes in. Get yourself out there Jack and show everybody what you’ve got.

“It seems to me that he’s been waiting for some negotiations to speak to the new manager about his contract. It seemingly has not been forthcoming. Would this be a good move? I’ve said on ESPN FC for a long, long time that he needs a change of scenery.”

It’s not clear why Mariner is so keen to highlight West Ham’s change of manager, considering Arsenal are going through exactly the same thing. Wilshere doesn’t need to go anywhere to start working under a new coach.

There’s certainly an argument that the midfielder is a bit too comfortable at Arsenal though. After working his way back from injury at the beginning of the season, Wilshere had no real trouble staying in the team after that, even when he performed poorly. His reputation wins him a lot of favour in North London.

Largely, the decision on Wilshere’s future should come down to his talks with Unai Emery. Until the pair know what to make of each other I doubt they’ll rush to any decisions.

Hopefully those talks take place sooner rather than later, because the player’s contract expires at the end of the month, and pre-season begins not too long after that.