They may be on the brink of losing Alexis Sanchez to Manchester United but Arsenal are close to agreeing contract extensions with Mesut Ozil and Jack Wilshere.
So says The Sun with the paper reporting that the pair are on the “verge of signing new long-term deals”. That, claims The Sun, will be a “huge boost” for Arsene Wenger, although Arsenal fans may dissent from that view, given that both players have been symptomatic of the malaise that has settled over the club in recent years.
On their day Wilshere and Ozil are top-class but such days have been few and far between and the German playmaker in particular has rarely shown that much commitment to the cause.
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The two midfielders are out of contract in June and The Sun says that they are “keen to stay and help rebuild a squad in turmoil”.
Something similar has been said for the past few seasons and yet Arsenal remain inconsistent and the feeling in some quarters in north London is that Ozil at least should be shown the door. But according to an Emirates source: “Mesut loves it here. He loves living in London and has made it clear he wants to stay.”
The same goes for Wilshere and the source told The Sun that “they’ve both got the contracts on the table and there’s not much else to iron out really. They should be all sorted soon.”
The Sun claims that Ozil is still trying to get an increase on his £150,000-a-week wages while Wilshere has accepted that, given his appalling injury record in recent years, he will have to accept a dip in wages when his new contract is signed.
Meanwhile Sky Sports reports that Borussia Dortmund are angry with Wenger after he made eyes at Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, saying he would fit in well at the Emirates. Arsenal have been linked with the Gabon goal machine in recent days and Wenger’s comments have been construed as further evidence that he is trying to lure Aubameyang to north London.
But his words haven’t gone down well in Germany with Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc blasting: “We think it’s disrespectful to talk like this about other players. There is no contact with Arsenal. We assume that Mr Wenger has enough to do with the performance of his own players.”
Nonetheless, the Daily Mirror reports that Aubameyang will not travel with Borussia Dortmund to Hertha Berlin this weekend because he is not “100% focused”, and according to the paper he is “desperate” to move to the Emirates.
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