Arsenal won’t break bank for Jack Wilshere, and nor should they

Arsenal, per a report in the Guardian, are not prepared to break the bank to keep Jack Wilshere beyond this season. And nor should they be. The price, as ever, must be right.

There is not, at this current time, a bigger news story in Arsenal circles than the future of their starting central midfield pair: Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere. With both on fast-expiring contracts and talks seemingly moving slowly between player and club, it remains to be seen whether they will stay in North London beyond the end of the season.

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While Ramsey is the more established and reliable of the two players, it is Wilshere, whose contract ends this summer, who is perhaps the more pressing issue in regards to the negotiating table.

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As of writing, seemingly, Arsenal have made an offer, as Arsene Wenger has confirmed, and it is up to Wilshere to either accept it or reject it. He is free to negotiate with foreign clubs, and from June 1st, a month before the expiration of his deal, he will be able to discuss terms with British clubs. Per the Guardian, and as Wenger has implied in his comments previously, the Gunners are unwilling to break the bank to keep. their oft-talented

The crux of the issue centres on the fragility of his body. While Wilshere is an unquestionably talented player, he is an unreliable talent, one that has not completed a season of football since his breaking into the first team seven years ago. That is something that assistant Steve Bould admitted this week:

"“That’s the nature of Jack, I’m afraid. He can pick up an injury because his ankle will turn. He’s got a sore knee. I think perhaps he will always have a little niggle here and there because of the way he is structured.”"

And so, breaking the bank for Wilshere simply doesn’t make sense. The reported offer is £100,000-a-week. How much more is a player who has missed whole seasons with injury and has not played more 2000 league minutes in a campaign since 2010/11, his first campaign a fully-fledged starter?

I have been an advocate of investing in Wilshere and his potential. Even though he is 26 and is now entering his prime years, he is yet to reach the ceiling that he displayed as a blisteringly gifted 18-year-old. Whether he will ever reach that level is certainly is in doubt, but such is the height of his gift, it is worth the risk.

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Nevertheless, a cost must be compared to that risk, and the likelihood of the rewards every actually coming to fruition. Breaking the bank for such fragile rewards seems unwise. Very unwise.