Arsene Wenger has confirmed that Alexis Sanchez was in Paris over Christmas, and that talks with Jack Wilshere about a new contract will start next month.

Both Alexis and Wilshere had fine games for Arsenal as they defeated Crystal Palace 3-1 on Thursday night.

Alexis scored twice in what his best performance for many weeks, while Wilshere had another positive showing in midfield and grabbed an excellent assist.

However, with their contract situations still unresolved, speculation about their futures continues.

Much was made of Alexis being spotted in Paris over Christmas.

Arsene Wenger has clarified the situation, stating that the Chilean was there to visit his family.

For Wilshere, there seems to be more positive news on the way.

The manager has confirmed that talks over a new contract will begin at the beginning of January.

Wenger had originally said that talks would take place in December, before backtracking and saying it would be the end of December.

Yet, he insists there has been no delay.

“There is no delay, I said we would sort out the situation in December at the end,” he said.

“I told him that we want to meet and sit down with him to talk about the future.

“That’s what I did, but now we play today, Sunday and Wednesday, so at the moment the focus has to be on the game. At the beginning of January we will [sit down].”

January is hardly any less busy than December and it’s not as if the busy Xmas period is  a surprise. In fact, an argument could be made that has been the quietest Xmas for Arsenal in recent memory.

Let’s hope that talks aren’t postponed again and this situation gets sorted out sooner rather than later.