Football
Mattias Karen, Arsenal correspondent 7y

Arsene Wenger: New Arsenal deal for Jack Wilshere won't just be to sell him

Arsene Wenger has called on Jack Wilshere to prove "that he's an Arsenal man" by signing a new contract with the Gunners instead of pushing for a permanent move away from the Emirates.

Wilshere was allowed to go on loan to Bournemouth in August without agreeing to a new long-term deal first, and will only have one year left on his current contract after this season. That means Arsenal could be forced to cash in on the England international if he decides he's better off going somewhere else.

Wilshere went on loan to get more playing time after injuries ruined the last two seasons and has been a regular starter for Eddie Howe's Bournemouth, who visit the Emirates on Sunday.

Wenger said on Friday he will offer Wilshere a new contract before the end of the season, but insisted that's not an attempt to protect the player's value in case of a sale.

"If Jack comes back to his right level, he will play for us," Wenger told reporters. "If he wants to go somewhere else, you have to respect that as well. I give you my feeling, I want him back. And he always said that he's an Arsenal man. If you think about yourself, you go where you like to be.

"The word loyalty is not even the right word. He's always said he's an Arsenal man. So that's the best way to show that."

Wilshere graduated from Arsenal's Hale End academy and made his first-team debut as a 16-year-old, but his career has been blighted by injuries that have curtailed his development.

But Wenger said it was the player's special history with the club that convinced him to let the midfielder leave without first locking in his long-term future.

"In his case it was a bit more of a human case than a calculated financial case," Wenger said. "Because he has been educated here since he was 8 or 9 years old. He has gone for years through difficult periods when he didn't play.

"And I felt honestly that a guy who has been educated here, if he has another season where he doesn't play because I don't give him the chance to play because I there are some players who are fitter than him, it would be unfair. That's why I thought it was not a mathematical decision."

Wilshere began the season on the bench for Arsenal, having seen Granit Xhaka and Mohamed Elneny brought this year to add competition for the midfield places. He asked for a loan move after Sam Allardyce left him out of his first England squad, and Wenger said he could understand his motivation.

"It was difficult for me to see as well, that a guy who is an English national team player suddenly is not picked anymore," Wenger said. "I thought it's a good compromise."

And the Arsenal boss said he doesn't think Wilshere's success at Bournemouth sets a precedent for other players to push for a loan move if they find themselves out of the starting lineup.

"Jack is a special case because he came back from two years without competition," Wenger said. "But a normal guy who is fit, if every time he is in trouble he wants to go somewhere else, he doesn't go far.

"You have to compete. It's not a lack of wanting to compete for Jack, it's to give him a chance to get back to his best level."

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