wel hard

Arsene Wenger admits Arsenal face tough contract talks to keep stars Danny Welbeck and Aaron Ramsey

Gunners boss fears stars may run down deals and leave for free like Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil at end of next season

ARSENE WENGER plans contract talks with Danny Welbeck AND Aaron Ramsey — but admits striking deals will be tough.

Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil, Jack Wilshere and Mathieu Debuchy have all moved into the final year of their Arsenal deals.

And Wenger is anxious to stop midfielder Ramsey and forward Welbeck leaving on free transfers in 2019.

But the Gunners boss predicts players agreeing long contracts will soon be a thing of the past.

And he reckons football’s entire transfer system is on the brink of collapse.

Wenger said: “Ramsey and Welbeck’s contracts are something we want to address.

“But with the level of transfer fees, and amounts of money players want, more and more will go into the final year of contracts.

“Clubs will soon have to either extend for money you can’t afford — or let the player run down his contract.

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“This season, 107 players in the Premier League have gone into the final year of their deals.

“Clubs are now asking too much for normal players.

"They say, ‘If this player is worth £200million, then this one has to be worth £50m’.

“But everybody knows £50m is too much. So the club cannot sell and the player doesn’t extend his contract.”