Arsene Wenger reveals Arsenal future talks with Jack Wilshere: Decision to be made soon

LITTLE will have changed when Arsene Wenger walks out at Wembley this afternoon - he will still be at the centre of a controversy.

Jack WilshereGETTY

Jack Wilshere's Arsenal future is in limbo and Arsene Wenger will decide in the coming days

This time the Arsenal boss, who kept everyone guessing before signing a new contract last season, looks set to deliver judgement on one other in particular.

Wenger will decide over the next few days whether to finally call time on injury jinxed midfielder Jack Wilshere, whose contract runs out next year.

The Frenchman admits that the time is nearly nigh for a decision on whether Wilshere, who has had his share of off field problems as well, should seek a new deal elsewhere.

His one time whiz kid spent last season on loan at Bournemouth before returning with another injury suffered against Spurs.

And Wenger is now unsure if he has a long term future at The Emirates.

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He has to come back to competition in a consistent way

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger

"The decision has not been completely made, but I want him to play somewhere," he said. "We have to decide that later.

"First I wanted him to come back from his fracture. It’s the first week back from full training. We need to sit down and see where we go."

Wenger said he still hopes Wilshere can enjoy the career he deserves despite "the difficult times" he has endured, 

"He has the talent to be a regular, but he has to come back to competition in a consistent way." His manager added.

But that's not the only battle the Frenchman is bracing himself for as he refuses to be held to ransom over players' contracts, no matter how good those players are.

That's why no one will be any the wiser today where the likes  of Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain - and Wilshere - will be playing their football next year.

And it's a situation that's going to get a whole lot worse, Wenger warned.

He reckons this summer's spiralling transfer fees have created a crisis where clubs and players are now sitting tight and letting their contracts run down rather that fork out fortunes for players who aren't worth it.

"It's a new situation, but I personally warn you that you are going to see this more and more," he said.

"It will become common because the inflation rate is so high that agents speculate on very high wages when they start to negotiate three or four years before the end (of existing contracts)."

Arsene WengerGETTY

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Even clubs like Arsenal can no longer afford to do  that, he revealed.

Wenger said that neither he or most of Arsenal's rivals are prepared to pay £50million for 'just normal players" without any long term guarantees.

"Clubs don’t want to pay this amount of transfer fee for normal players," he claimed. "They will wait until the player is free."

He did not say whether that applies to today's opponents, Chelsea, or their ebullient coach Antonio Conte. But he did acknowledge that the Italian will be a major title rival this season.

"I think his quality will make Chelsea dangerous again this season," Wenger added.

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