Transfer Rumor: Jack Wilshere to become Turkish delight

When Jack Wilshere announced a couple weeks ago that he would not renew his Arsenal contract, and would thus seek employment elsewhere, he immediately became the subject of a lot of speculation. A still young-ish, talented English player, we all thought, would have no shortage of suitors and would soon enough find employment in England, presumably, as his homegrown status theoretically made him more desirable to a Premier League club looking for midfield help.

Theoretically.

It would seem that Wilshere’s services weren’t in as much demand as we may have thought, as news today seems to indicate that, rather than play for a lower Premier League side or a Championship promotion contender, he will be signing with Turkish club Fenerbahçe and that said signing will be announced on Monday. Wilshere, of course, is the third ex-Arsenal player to play in Turkey, after Robin van Persie and Nicolas Anelka also attempted to extend their careers with the Istanbul club.

While this hasn’t been confirmed yet, the rumor is that he’ll be paid somewhere in the neighborhood of €5 million a year:

This is an interesting move for Wilshere - I’m not sure if it’s purely about the money, but the “one last big contract” idea wouldn’t seem to be a thing for a 26 year old, which leads me to believe that there may not have been as many knocks on Wilshere’s door as we may have thought there would be.

Still, we wish Jack nothing but success in Turkey, and if this actually does become official, gives us a reason to keep half an eye on the Turkish league.