Arsenal: ‘Numberized’ Jack Wilshere contract sounds bad

Arsene Wenger has stated that the ball is very much in Jack Wilshere’s court regarding a new contract. This sounds bad for all parties, especially Arsenal.

While the contract controversies of Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez lingered on, what many people, myself included, overlooked, is that every other player’s contract was also steaming towards its impending expiration. Suddenly, or not so suddenly as the realisation belies the true timeframe, Arsenal have a myriad of players with uncertain futures.

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Aaron Ramsey, Santi Cazorla, Danny Welbeck, Petr Cech. They all have contracts that expire either at the end of this current season or the next. But perhaps the leading man in all of this is Jack Wilshere.

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After returning from a loan season at Bournemouth, Wilshere has worked his way back into the Arsenal thinking, starting nine Premier League games and six of the eight Europa League ties thus far, and is now well and truly enravelled within the first-team rotation. But his contract expires at the end of the year and there has been little news on the front of developments.

Nevertheless, in his press conference on Wednesday morning, the question was put to Arsene Wenger, and he seemed to be fairly definitive on the situation.

"“It’s progressing, but the decision belongs to him. At the end of the day, you have to respect the decision of the player. Our desire is clear, is expressed, is numbered and after that, the player has to find satisfaction as well.”"

Per Wenger, the ball is very much in Wilshere’s court. That thinking, though, does not quite add up. Wilshere has routinely expressed his love for the club, stating that he wants to stay, one day dreaming of the captaincy, and seems hell-bent on committing his future to extending his time in North London.

Someone, then, must be lying, or at least stretching the truth. And my guess is that the question of ‘number’ is one that conspires two very different answers. Wenger states that the interest of Arsenal to keep Wilshere is ‘numbered’. Knowing the characteristic hesitancies of this club to commit significant resources to the playing squad, it would not surprise if that number was quite low.

Wilshere may well believe that he is worthy of a greater wage than he is currently on. That may or may not be a justified opinion. While his performances have been promising this season, it is not easy to overlook his injury record. Certainly, his fitness issues will depreciate his value, perhaps more so for Arsenal than for himself.

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It is, of course, just speculation on my part. I do not know the offer that Wenger speaks of. I do not know the private thoughts of the club and the player. But history has a tendency to repeat itself. In this case, it doesn’t look all that pretty.