Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has confirmed that long-standing midfielder Jack Wilshere has been offered a ‘long-term contract’ and his future is expected to be decided before this summer’s World Cup finals in Russia.
The England international has been playing hardball in contractual negotiations amid the Gunners wanting him to take a pay-cut, but Wenger remains optimistic that the club can get a deal over the line.
“I cannot give you any news because I don’t really know what is in his mind. He has an offer that is on a long-term contract basically, and I hope that at some stage he will sign it,” he said.
“I think he will make his decision before the end of the season. He will not want to go to the World Cup and not have settled his situation because that would not be reasonable as well I think.”
Wilshere has basically been offered a contract offer which includes a 25 per cent reduction on his present salary and this appears to have led to an impasse since the turn of the year.
Moreover, the midfielder has been associated with a shock switch to newcomers Wolverhampton Wanderers in the summer but the Gunners remain reluctant to pay over the odds.
Wilshere has had a decent-to-good season with the Gunners which has earned him an England recall but his past injury record is certainly hampering his chances of earning his present salary in the long-run.
Arsenal are said to have proposed performance and appearance-based incentives in order to cover up the pay-cut but the midfielder is supposedly leaning towards a straight deal which includes his current £110,000-a-week wages.