WEST HAM’S £3.9m PAY-OFF FOR WILSHERE
JACK WILSHERE was last night released by West Ham after they reached a £3.9million deal to terminate his contract. The Hammers chose to cut their losses on the 28-year-old after he made just 19 appearances in an injury-hit spell since joining in 2018. As reported by Sportsmail at the start of September, West Ham had been in talks to cancel Wilshere’s deal, worth around £100,000 a week. West Ham were ideally hoping to findnd a buyer to help recoupoup some of theirir outlay on thee midfielder. But, with no takers, they have reached a deal allowingng Wilshere (right) to leaveave by mutual consent.onsent His contract was due to expire next summer and West Ham will pay most of the remaining money, around £3.9m, due to Wilshere. West Ham signed him on a free from Arsenal and wanted an initial one-year deal due to concerns about his fitness record. But then manager Manuel Pellegrini pushed for his signature and Wilshere was eventually offered a longer deal. He has managed just 599 minutes in his 16 Premier League appearances and struggled with ankle and groin problems, forcing him to miss 53 games in total. Wilshere can now join a new club as a free agent and, speaking last month, said he was ready to play ‘anywhere’. In a statement last night, Wilshere said: ‘When I joined the club in the summer of 2018 I joined with great hopes and was excited to jojoin the club I supported aas a boy. ‘DDespite all oof my best eefforts and inintentions, it has not workedworke out as I’d expectedexpected. ‘I have been fully fit for a large period of time at the club, including over the course of the last eight months but unfortunately have not been given the opportunity to play. ‘Although I am frustrated I was not able to fully showcase what I am capable of at West Ham, I remain convinced that I can still contribute at the very top of the game. ‘I am still hungry and ambitious.’