LONDON // Arsenal are ready to give Jack Wilshere a substantial new deal to make sure he is not lured away from the club.
And in doing so it will pave the way for the departure of Cesc Fabregas to Barcelona, possibly as soon as next summer. Wilshere, who has joined up with the England national team's senior squad for their European Championship qualifier against Montenegro on Tuesday after playing for the Under 21s in their 2-1 win over Romania on Friday, will soon be elevated into the "middle" level of Arsenal's wage structure.
Wilshere, 18, signed his first professional contract 20 months ago but it was quickly upgraded in July 2009 as Arsenal realised how much potential he had. The midfielder then agreed to a six-year deal, but he had not even made his Premier League debut by then and his pay would have been in the region of £20,000-a-month (Dh116,500). He could be elevated to £40,000 as part of a progressive deal. The midfielder has only started to appear in the Arsenal first team this season, having spent the second half of the last campaign on loan at Bolton Wanderers.
Arsenal have a much more prudent salary structure than other major Premier League clubs, but realise they have to put a player of Wilshere's calibre on the sort of salary that will not see his head turn towards the bigger wages on offer at the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City. There would be no shortage of suitors from around Europe if Wilshere indicated he wanted to leave the Gunners. Despite the fact he signed a long-term deal shortly after breaking into the first team as a 17-year-old, Fabregas has been given several pay rises since to fend off the advances of Barcelona.
Fabregas is now one the club's top earners although, in relative terms, he is a long way short of the best paid players in the Premier League. Arsenal's pay policy has yet to see any player break through the £100,000-a-week barrier that has become the norm for A-list players at Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and now City.
Fabregas's desire to return home should eventually see him move back to Barcelona, the Spanish champions, where he began his career. The Spain international, 23, has admitted the long-mooted move came very close to happening after the World Cup.
Arsenal stood firm, but now that Wilshere has emerged along with Henri Lansbury, his fellow midfielder, and the fact that Aaron Ramsey is on his way back to fitness after breaking a leg last season, the club has three outstanding talents to fill the void when Fabregas inevitably departs. Fabregas spoke highly of Wilshere last week when he was acting as an ambassador for Spain and Portugal's joint bid to host the 2018 World Cup, saying: "Jack is on the right path and he has his head screwed on.
"If he keeps playing and keeps developing you will have a player who can play for England for many, many years."