Arsene Wenger on mission to tie nine Arsenal first-team stars down to new contracts

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Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has revealed that it isn’t just about Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil when it comes to negotiating new deals over the next few months.

The star duo are unsurprisingly dominating headlines this week as speculation over their respective futures with the Gunners continues to cast doubt on whether or not new deals will be reached.

However, they aren’t the only players on the agenda, as noted by Sky Sports, with Wenger revealing that up to six or seven players will have to decide on whether or not to ink new agreements with the north London giants.

“There are six or seven cases at the moment but that is the usual case, it is every year like that,” he said.

“That explains to you why we have a lot of work to do but you are only interested in two cases (Sanchez and Ozil).”

Kieran Gibbs, Olivier Giroud, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Mathieu Debuchy and Jack Wilshere are named in the report as the men in question, and it will be interesting to see how many of that quintet sign new deals or look elsewhere at the end of the season given their lack of regular playing time this season.

Gibbs and Giroud have been displaced by Nacho Monreal and Sanchez respectively, Oxlade-Chamberlain has significant competition for places and Debuchy lasted 15 minutes in his comeback from injury with Hector Bellerin previously forcing him to the sidelines.

Wilshere joined Bournemouth on a season-long loan deal in the summer and has enjoyed his time with the Cherries thus far, so he’ll also have a big decision to make.

It’s added by Sky Sports that Arsenal have an option on both Per Mertesacker and Santi Cazorla to take up another one-year extension, and they will likely be prioritised given that they only have six months remaining on their current deals.

As a result, it promises to be a busy few months off the pitch for the Arsenal boss, but naturally all the talk will be focused on what happens with Sanchez and Ozil.

More Stories Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Alexis Sanchez Arsene Wenger Jack Wilshere Kieran Gibbs mathieu debuchy Mesut Ozil Olivier Giroud