Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger revealed he would listen to offers for Jack Wilshere this week, and Aston Villa may consider putting a bid forward.
While there’s no denying the 25-year-old’s quality, injuries have blighted his career throughout and continue to do so as he pushes to recover from his latest setback suffered at the end of last season.
The hope for Arsenal fans has always been that Wilshere can prove his fitness and get a good run of games in the side to prove his worth, but that just hasn’t materialised.
In turn, Wenger has now suggested that he will consider offers for the England international, and will speak with them to determine what is the best option.
“I’m open with Jack,” he said, as reported by The Guardian. “We have honest conversations. I’m open to what is the best for him. He is at the stage of his career where he needs to play and I can’t guarantee him that today. I think I’m quite open on that.”
With just 12 months remaining on his current contract and with Arsenal needing to trim their squad, it would seem to make sense to offload him this summer and get some sort of fee. Villa boss Steve Bruce is seemingly keen, but he has doubts over whether or not Wilshere would be willing to drop down to the Championship and if the club can afford the fee that would be demanded for him.
“The Jack Wilshere one – hey, who wouldn’t want Jack Wilshere? But I don’t know whether we’re capable of landing him and let’s not forget he’s only 25,” he’s quoted as saying by The Express.
“People have said that I’ve got millions and millions to spend, where it’s been the complete opposite. With financial fair play, unfortunately we haven’t got millions and millions to spend so I’ve got to be a little bit prudent, see what we can do and try and balance the books.”