TIME TO TALK JACK

Arsenal fear Wilshere may quit with Sanchez and Ozil

ARSENAL expect to make their long-awaited contract offer to Jack Wilshere in the first week eek of January as the club faces ces the growing prospect of f losing the home-grown Arsenal midfielder as well as their biggest stars Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil t his summer.

All three have contracts s which expire at the end of the season andWil she re (above) seems the only one Arsenal are likely to persuade to stay, though the club have again placed themselves in a weak position with Wilshere now in his best form for two-and-a-half years, having seemingly fully recovered from injury.

Wilshere has always expressed a desire to stay at the club he joined a as a child but is waiting to see what offer they come up with. But with Sanchez set to leave at the end of t the season or even in Ja January if Manchester City and Paris St-Germain d decide id they need him now, and with Ozil interesting Barcelona, Arsenal will be under pressure to ensure they do not have to manage a trio of high- profile exits this summer on free transfers. The ongoing Sanchez-Ozil saga makes another bid for Monaco’s Thomas Lemar more likely next month, though nowhere near the £90million bid that was made for him in August.

Arsenal recognise they have to start rebuilding, anticipating the departure of two such key players.

Sanchez, despite his goal on Friday night in the 3-3 draw with Liverpool, looks disengaged at times and appears to be frustrating home fans as he enters the last six months of his contract.

Wilshere, by contrast, looks lean and stronger than ever and enjoyed another good performance in the starting line-up, meaning Arsenal will inevitably want to tie him down rather than see him move to a rival for free in the summer. As a home- grown player under UEFA rules, Wilshere in this form would be attractive to any of the Premier League clubs in the Champions League, while Everton and West Ham have considered him and Roma wanted to sign him on loan last season. Wilshere would be free to sign with a foreign club on January 1 but is likely to remain in the Premier League.

Meanwhile, Jurgen Klopp has urged Liverpool fans to keep the faith after the erratic performance against Arsenal, insisting that though the league title may be over, his team is on the verge of being genuine contenders.

‘We’re on our way and we have to keep the team together and improve and involve other players,’ said Klopp. ‘That’s a job for the future.

‘This year I don’t think anybody except Manchester City and maybe United can think too much about how they can win the league.

‘ We have t o qualify f or t he Champions League; have to finish as high as possible. It looks like we could be second, third or fourth and that will be a fantastic situation. Not the dream, but a fantastic situation, and that’s what we’re working on.’