Arsenal: ‘Selfish’ is the painfully correct approach with Jack Wilshere

Arsenal are being harangued by fans for being unable to lock Jack Wilshere down to a new contract, but this ‘selfish’ approach is the right one.

Arsenal toyed with their fans more than a little when they tweeted a link congratulating Jack Wilshere, only for it to be a link to him winning goal of the month. And of course, there was the club photographer talking up the new shots of Wilshere too.

It all has fans getting rather impatient. They want to see Wilshere locked down so that all risk of him eloping with the Ox to Liverpool are put to rest.

Some have even accused the club of being selfish, unwilling to pay Wilshere what he deserves.

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In some regards, I completely agree. You have to lock the guy up. He is Arsenal through and through. But then I get to thinking that this ‘selfish’ approach is actually the smarter way to go about it and, when boiled down to the basics, I think that’s not even up for debate.

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Arsenal has been run on emotion for the past decade. Arsene Wenger has kept faith primarily in the players that had been at the club the longest and had willfully rejected new signings, treating them as second class.

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I mean, Theo Walcott was one of our highest earners. Come on.

Things really are different not. Productivity is being rewarded and the club is progressing. Jack Wilshere can be a part of that. Absolutely he can. But we can’t let emotions tell us to just pay the guy whatever he wants. Not when Aaron Ramsey, who boasts superior productivity, is also waiting on a new deal, and his figures to necessitate a big-money package.

The Gunners are different. I think we can all agree on that. Even with the changes in the way things are handled. That’s why Wilshere will end up with a new contract before too much longer. But taking a hard line with his demands shouldn’t be met with scorn, not even from him. It’s club first, and Wilshere knows that. It’s not nickel-and-diming someone if you want them to earn their money rather than just have it.

If nothing else, it will always push Wilshere to achieve even more. How nice would it have been to have Walcott on an incentives package? Maybe we could have taken care of some of these contracts sooner.

It may sound cruel, but it’s reality. You don’t get ahead by shoveling money to all your favorite players. You get ahead by keeping a level head when you go into the negotiating table.

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That said, Wilshere will extend. You can bank on it. And I think the deal will be a smart, progress-driven deal that helps everyone.