One name that hasn’t gotten a lot of transfer season heat so far is Jack Wilshere. The oft-injured English midfielder’s contract, like those of Alexis and Mesut Özil, expires after the coming season. Unlike those two, though, whenever Jack picks up the phone, it’s to play solitaire, or in a crowded room after he goes “brring brring” to make people think it’s ringing and that he has friends, not because Arsenal are calling with an offer.
There has been no action on Wilshere’s contract status at all, which makes you wonder: why not? I mean, he’s English, he’s homegrown, and thus should be valuable to any Premiership team, right? Well, there’s a few things at play here. First, as we know, he can’t stay healthy; his 29 games for Bournemouth this season before breaking his leg are his most since 2012/13.
Then there’s the fact that he has been fairly inconsistent when he has played; he’s always juuuuuuust about to break out, then he just breaks. And finally, there’s this:
Wilshere's apparent target of £250,000-a-week is proving a major sticking point with potential suitors.
See, Jack, when you never play because you’re hurt, that’s NOT the time to go asking for a fat new contract. That’s the time to take either the same money from your current club, as a way of thanking them for keeping faith in you over the seasons, or take slightly more from another club, but not £1 million a month. You haven’t really done much to warrant that.
If things keep going the way they are, Jack will become a free agent and can sign with any club in January; I think the best outcome for him at this point is to target a Bournemouth-level club, ask for Bournemouth-level wages, and rebuild what was once a promising career that way. I wish him no ill, but I think it’s time he and Arsenal part ways.