There has been a lot of talk about contract extensions at Arsenal now that the season is underway. There are plenty of contracts expiring at the end of this campaign, with the likes of Koscielny, Mertesacker and Cazorla just to name a few, but it seems there is more talk about players who have their contracts ending in 2018.
Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil are the two main talking points, with the club’s best players having entered the final two years of their current contracts. But we also shouldn’t forget that Arsenal’s ‘British Core’ that famously all signed extensions at the same time back in December 2012, are also coming towards the end of their current deals. Whilst Theo has since signed a new deal, Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere, Kieran Gibbs and Carl Jenkinson all still have agreements that end in 2018.
It seems that there is no rush for Arsene Wenger to extend the latter contracts however, despite Arsenal remaining vigilant to avoid another Robin Van Persie situation. It has already been reported that Gunners officials have already questioned whether to offer Chamberlain another deal, with the 23 year old failing to really improve since signing five years ago. It was reported that The Ox had been listed for a move away in the summer, but no suitable offers came in. Arsenal may therefore look to sell up before his contract runs out.
Gibbs will more than likely have to make a decision on his future, with the left back failing to get much time on the pitch. If he intends to stay, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Arsenal offer him another long term deal. The same goes for Carl Jenkinson, whilst Aaron Ramsey will of course get an extension.
That brings us to Jack Wilshere, who will reportedly have to prove his fitness to the club before being offered a new deal. Wilshere, who despite making limited appearances on the pitch, is understood to be on around £80,000 per week and Arsenal are not comfortable paying such amount of money if the player cannot prove his worth to the club. Wilshere’s annual wage comes to around £4.16 million a year and if the Englishman, who was touted to become the club’s captain one day, intends to stay at Arsenal, then he must see improvements to his fitness whilst on loan at Bournemouth.
Personally I’d expect Arsenal to keep Wilshere on the books regardless of his fitness this season because you cannot forget that we held onto the likes of Diaby and Rosicky for endless years, despite both players also being very injury prone. We could see Wilshere offered a reduced wage and he will have to make his mind up if he wants to remain with Arsenal, but considering he seems to be a Gunner at heart, there is no doubt that there will be an offer on the table that he will accept.
By AH