Jack Wilshere is on course to leave Arsenal for nothing in the summer after revealing he is ‘no closer’ to signing a new contract with the club.
The 26-year-old’s current deal is due to expire at the end of the season but both sides of the table want to come to a conclusion where Wilshere stays at the Emirates.
Arsenal handed big contracts to Mesut Ozil, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in January and that has reportedly caused a strain in the dressing room.
The Gunners need to convince Aaron Ramsey to sign a new deal but the Wales international is now demanding a significant wage hike to commit his long-term future to the club.
As for Wilshere, resolving his future is more pressing for Arsene Wenger’s side, but the England international has sensationally revealed no progress has been made.
“All I can tell you is that we are no closer to sorting anything out,” Wilshere told The Daily Mirror after Thursday’s 2-0 win away to AC Milan in the Europa League.
One of the main reported sticking points is that while Arsenal have been content to hand out big money to Ozil, Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan, they actually want Wilshere to accept a pay-cut.
Wilshere’s checkered past with injuries means Arsenal are not even willing to match his current basic salary of £90,000-a-week and instead want to include incentive-based bonuses that will allow the midfielder to reach his current wage.
The Arsenal No.10 has managed to stay injury free this season to make 29 appearances in all competitions.
Interestingly, Arsenal have a far superior win ratio in the Premier League this season when Wilshere has not started (52.6%) compared to when he has featured from the off (30%).
