Arsene Wenger didn’t have much to say about Jack Wilshere’s future at Arsenal during his pre-Milan presser but what he did say told us a few things.
“On my side nothing has changed,” Wenger said on Wednesday afternoon. “What are the chances of him staying? I don’t know.
“Jack will be free at the end of this season.
“We make a proposal to him. I want him to stay and to be linked with the club for the future. That’s my desire, I hope he will do it.”
Ball in Jack’s court
It’s now become rather apparent that the reports circulating about the 26-year-old being unhappy with Arsenal’s offer of an incentivised contract are probably true.
First the midfielder and now Wenger have made it clear that the ball is firmly in the player’s court.
“Yeah, but things have changed since then and all I can tell you is that we are no closer to sorting anything out,” Wilshere said last week.
Given Wilshere’s injury history, the club are said to only be willing to offer him a basic wage of £90k-per-week plus playing bonuses. And while that might sound completely reasonable to you and I, to Wilshere, this isn’t good enough and he isn’t willing to agree to it… Even though, if he does stay fit, he’ll probably end up earning over £120k-per-week anyway, which is how much he currently makes.
Arsenal have obviously put across their argument and Wilshere isn’t settling, making the likelihood of the two parties actually coming to an agreement seem pretty unlikely now.
As Wenger said, Arsenal made a proposal to him and the boss hopes he’ll accept it.
No more positivity
Previously, Wenger seemed positive over Wilshere staying in north London. He spoke about hoping that the England international would stay and his tone suggested that he was confident of a deal being agreed.
“I want him to sign very quickly,” Wenger said last month.
“We are still to make the decision and find the pen somewhere. I’m happy to give him one.”
Recently, however, the 68-year-old’s tone has completely changed. He now says he doesn’t know whether the player will stay or not, although he hopes he does.
The change in Wenger’s tone coincides with Wilshere’s claim that ‘things have changed’ behind the scenes.
Obviously, we can only speculate over whatever those ‘changes’ might be.
Perhaps Arsenal have told him that there’s no way they will change their offer, which has put a bee in Wilshere’s bonnet considering he most likely wants to stay at Arsenal but is convinced he can get more money out of them.
Perhaps he’s been told something about Wenger’s future at the club.
As far as Wenger’s ‘I don’t know’ is concerned, he said the same thing about both Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez so this could really go either way. Although I think it’s now time to start preparing ourselves for Wilshere’s exit.
Wenger wants him to stay
Regardless of Wenger’s tone, I do believe him when he says he hopes Wilshere will stay at Arsenal because he’s been saying it for years.
There’s a reason the Arsenal players tease the midfielder about Wenger being like his dad.
Although Wenger would never openly admit to having favourites, Wilshere’s definitely one of them.
“I see him [as a possible captain] because he’s an Arsenal man. He was here at the age of 10. Not only because he was here for a long time, but he has some leadership qualities, he has a football brain, he is completely focused on Arsenal,” Wenger said in January.
“The fact that he has been away [on loan], he comes back, he realises as well that life is not so bad here maybe. And that is something that is important, that he can be one of the leaders of the future.”
The Frenchman has stood by the player through his injury problems and he understands what having a true ‘Gunner’ at the club means to the fans.
Loyalty doesn’t mean much in modern football but Wenger remembers when it did. He knows that Wilshere leaving because he’s perhaps getting a bit too big for his boots now that he’s finally fit would be a mistake.