Incoming Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola is claimed to have made Jack Wilshere his top target this summer.
The midfielder is our club’s only player to earn a place in Roy Hodgson’s England squad, and impressed when coming off the bench in their last warm-up match against Portugal.
Manchester City are now believed to be keen on signing the 24 year-old, with him supposedly a key target for Guardiola.
The Sky Blues have a record of signing players from Arsenal, with Emmanuel Adebayor, Kolo Toure, Gael Clichy, Bacary Sagna and Samir Nasri all having made the switch from North-London to the Etihad in recent seasons.
The most recent departures however coincided with our club building the Emirates Stadium, which restricted our finances somewhat, and I’m of the belief that we would no longer sell our best players, not unless they were unhappy to stay put.
That brings me to the question of whether Wilshere can be considered one of our best players, and whether he could be deemed surplus to requirements.
The Arsenal youth product has suffered with a huge number of injuries since making the step up to the first-team, and this season featured in less than 150 Premier League match minutes. His ability is not questioned, but his fitness is a constant worry, and the main issue is that he is not the only star to regularly be absent through injury.
Should a bid of £30 Million come in for his signature, I would be tempted to allow him to go, especially with the likes of Francis Coquelin, Mohamed Elneny, Granit Xhaka, Santi Cazorla and Aaron Ramsey able to cover his favoured central midfield position.
I know he is a fans favourite, his blood runs true red, but I’m not sure his contribution warrants turning down a reasonable offer from our rivals.
How much money would need to be offered for you to accept his exit?
Pat J