Arsenal are set to open talks with Aaron Ramsey over a new contract, but are preparing for a rocky start to negotiations.
The Gunners underwent a torrid time lately, with Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil appearing to hold our club at ransom, and we ended up being forced to allow the Chilean to join rivals Manchester United, although I can’t help but be happy with our exchange, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan moving in the opposite direction.
We finally agreed a new contract with our German maestro, but the pair had previously rejected any advances of offers to extend their contracts for over a year, and both deals were believed to have been put off previously due to wage demands.
We are now set to enter into new negotiations with stand-out star Aaron Ramsey, who has been amongst our most consistent performers throughout the campaign, and topped his return from injury off with an emphatic hat-trick this weekend against Everton, his first senior hat-trick of his career.
Arsenal are keen to tie down the Welsh international to a new deal prior to him entering the final year of his current deal, with the club keen to avoid another saga, but the new ceiling in our wage structure has been raised due to the new contract for Ozil, and that could well raise the expectations of future negotiations.
We are also yet to agree new terms with fellow midfielder Jack Wilshere, who is currently into the final season of his current deal, and with supposed interest from rivals Liverpool, we may well be forced to offer the injury-prone star more than we would have wished.
If Ozil is worth £350,000 per week, how much is Ramsey worth? Does the Welshman deserve to be amongst our highest earners? When fit, is he more important than Wilshere?
Pat J