Arsenal have offered a new deal to Jack Wilshere, with a £20k-per-week lower base rate of pay, but higher in add-ons.
BBC Sport’s Ian Dennis tweeted the update on Monday morning, but didn’t give any hints as to whether the 26-year-old will accept.
Understand Arsenal have offered a new deal to Jack Wilshere. The offer is less money than his current deal but it's heavily incentivised. #AFC
— Ian Dennis (@Iandennisbbc) January 16, 2018
According to The S*n, the Hale End Academy graduate is currently on a basic wage of £110,000-per-week. Arsenal’s new offer would only be £90,000-a-week, but will reach the same levels with appearance bonuses and so on.
The details are roughly what you’d expect for a player with Wilshere’s history. Arsenal can’t afford another few years of paying the midfielder high wages while he sits at home with a cast around his leg.
It’s not the England international’s fault he keeps getting injured, but the Gunners are right not to take risks. Financial Fair Play guidelines are too restrictive with wages nowadays.
As long as he keeps playing, Wilshere would keep picking up money for add-ons, so he’d still earn more in the end. It’s just about making sure Arsenal aren’t paying for nothing.
As widely reported, the Gunners planned to sit down with the midfielder to discuss an extension last month. Wilshere’s contract expires at the end of the season, so it’s getting close to the ‘now or never’ stage.
Nonetheless, Wenger seemingly kept pushing the talks back. First he said they would talk “in December”. Then he confirmed it would be at the end of December.
After that, he told the media the talks would take place in January. Thankfully, this time it seems he was telling the truth, and the Gunners have made an offer.
We should find out soon what Wilshere thinks of it.