Jack Wilshere and Mesut Özil see Arsenal’s efforts to sign Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as positive steps, which could push them closer to signing new deals.

That’s according to The Times, who claim contract talks are ongoing with both Arsenal midfielders.

Times reports that Mkhi & Auba deals are regarded by Mesut and Jack as steps in the right direction for #AFC to go to the next level. Contract talks ongoing.

— Arsènic™ (@MrArsenicTM) January 19, 2018

You can see why the pair might feel more confident signing on when the Gunners are making these kinds of moves. Clearly Alexis Sanchez is going to leave sooner rather than later.

Danny Welbeck and Alex Iwobi have done everything to rule themselves out as adequate replacements. The pair have their uses, but they aren’t on the same level.

Without Sanchez, and with no internal replacement, the club have to make big moves in the market. A world class signing like Aubameyang is the right kind of deal to put them back on track.

Wilshere and Özil have always shown a lot of love to the club and the fans, but this is about their careers.

Blindly signing extensions while the club make no effort to support them wouldn’t help anyone. They’d end their playing days with fewer trophies, and fans won’t have much to celebrate either.

Hopefully Arsenal will announce one or both of the new signings before long, and contract extensions will finalise soon after.