The Mirror is reporting that Arsenal are close to signing Jack Wilshere to a new £20million five-year contract. That contract, which will have a “sliding scale” will increase in value as Wilshere grows older.

The new deal will pay Wilshere around £50,000-a-week, more than triple his current £15,000-a-week wages.

Arsene Wenger is quoted by the Mirror as saying:

Quote:

“We are confident we will sign Jack quickly and hope to announce the deal soon. Jack has had a great start to the season, in a position where we expected him to come out higher on the pitch. But, basically, it suits him well to play from deep. There is a touch of Liam Brady about him. I totally agree with that. He is a quiet guy, but it looks like he can handle the pressure well. Where you see that is in the big games, as he wants the ball. So it is natural for him to play. He is like Wayne Rooney was at 16 or 17. They have the same confidence about them. It is a bit like asking a mathematician to solve a problem and then you ask someone else who is not gifted to solve one too – but it is natural for Jack.”

With Wilshere, Samir Nasri and Wojciech Szczesny all close to signing new deals, Arshavin must be wondering if they will get around to his deal next.

WEST HAM boss Avram Grant insists he will get it right – if he is given time, like Arsene Wenger at Arsenal.



The Hammers are rock bottom of the Premier League and given little chance of victory at the Emirates today.



But Grant points out that his side have only lost once in seven games in all competitions.



And he has also been assured by Wenger that even he had problems in his first year with the Gunners.



“I spoke with Arsene about this and he told me about his first year at Arsenal and that it was not so easy,” Grant said.



“There were many difficult things for him. Also Alex Ferguson was struggling in his first years at Manchester United.



“Of course, when you come for the long term and want to build another style of football and solve problems, you need time.



“You don’t come in one day, push a button and everything becomes good.



“I think any club needs a vision and a strategy, even if things are going well. You need to stick to the vision.



“Arsene Wenger and Alex Ferguson are a good example for this. Imagine if they didn’t let them continue after the first year.



“The history of Arsenal and Manchester United would be different and maybe we wouldn’t have such a difficult game this weekend.”



Arsenal are in great form but Grant insists his side can pull off a shock.



“They are a very good team but every team can lose a game, even when they are very good,” he said.



“We need to think like this. In sport everything is poss-ible and I don’t want to come to the day when I say something is impossible.”



There has been massive pressure on Grant following their poor start to the season but he added: “I’m focused on my job. I think we are doing the right things and have been unlucky not to get more points.



“The owners always say they believe in this vision, even when we are facing difficulties. And I believe in this. I believe there is no other way for West Ham.



“I signed for four years. We knew the first year would not be easy because of the financial situation.



“We wanted to build something for the future. We didn’t want to be in the position we are now but we knew it would be difficult. I think after the first year, when there are not so many financial problems, it will be easier.”Wenger way’s best way says Grant

Ahead of this afternoon’s game against West Ham United, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was full of praise for goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, who he described as a “natural goalkeeper”.

Speaking on Friday, the Frenchman explained how the problem with the 25-year old last season was that he was only used sporadically and how this always prevented him from building the right confidence to shine in goal.

Having taken full advantage of Manuel Almunia’s elbow injury, the Polish International is finally showing how good he is with Wenger revealing his surprise at the leadership skills of his goalkeeper.

The Frenchman added how last season’s mistakes – especially those made against Porto in the Champions League – affected Fabianski’s confidence as he concluded by saying how newcomers are always under pressure as their mistakes always see the media and fans say that they are not good enough.

On Friday, Wenger said:

Quote:

He always felt that if he could get a run of games, then he could show how good he is. He always felt it [his reputation] was only on one game and he felt under pressure to show how good he is in one game. Now he is a bit more relaxed. He’s louder than you think he is too. In the game, I am quite surprised how much he talks. He is what I call a natural goalkeeper, the rhythm of the game runs through his body. He smells what will happen. He is technically very gifted, after that every goalkeeper progresses and they blossom at 28 until 38. Of course [the mistakes he made last season] affected him. The Porto game was very bad for him. The confidence problem is a very interesting subject in top-level sport. You feel it goes quickly and comes back slowly. If you are an established name and you make a mistake, then people say ‘you have had a bad day’. If you come into the team and you make a mistake people say you are not good enough. That’s a massive difference.

So here we are a quarter of the way through the season.  Second in the Premiership, in complete control of our Champions League group, into the last eight of the Carling Cup and even some clean sheets!  Plus we have players returning from injury.

Not to bad a start, better than I feared in the depressing aftermath of the West Brom game.  We had a real wobble there and if our main rivals had taken advantage things wouldn’t look so rosy.  But we got away with it and we are where we are.  So what have we learned along the way?

1.  We still need to sort the goalkeeper issue, but the door certainly isn’t closed against Fabianski.

Although the last few games have been error free we shouldn’t get carried away.  The goalkeeping situation has been a weakness since the departure of Jens Lehman.  Nothing can done until the transfer window.  We have probably seen the best we will ever see from Almunia.  Give Fabianski a chance to show what he can do in a consistent run in the team.

2. Jack Wilshere has arrived.

He isn’t quite the finished article yet, but at his age that’s fair enough.  He needs better judgement sometimes in his tackling.  But he has arrived as a regular first team player with a massive future.  His talent is that he is comfortable both as a second defensive midfielder when we don’t have possession and an attacking midfielder when we do.  In a few games he has defined Diaby and Denilson as rotation players.  Someone commenting on an earlier post described him as a “Fabregas/Flamini hybrid” and that kind of covers it.

3. Samir Nasri is a great player.

For me, he’s the player of the season so far.  He’s fast, hard-working, a great passer and a cool finisher.  He’s the sort of player we’ve been missing since Robert Pires or Freddie Ljungberg before he got slow.  He can play in the middle covering for Cesc or on either flank.  Brilliant.

4. Chamakh, Squillaci and Koscielny were three good summer signings.

Marouane Chamakh came on a free – what a fantastic bit of business.  Strong running towards goal for a through pass, or back to pick up possession deep.  Quick feet and a threat in the air.  How does he fit in the squad with a fit and on-form Bendtner?  Don’t know, but a good problem to have!

Sebastien Squillaci – also money well spent.  Not spectacular but solid and fairly unflappable.  Laurent Koscielny – solid too, but faster and probably the better of the two.  Taking the two together, we now have a more solid defence that is surviving the lengthy injury to Vermaelen.  There are definitely better central defenders out there, I’m not saying these two are the last word, but they were both good buys that have already proved their value.  With Chamakh they make us look more dangerous in corners as well.

5. We still have the capacity to blow points against weaker teams.

The West Brom game was too typical of the sort of match that has ruined recent seasons.  Typically it was against a team we were tipped to beat, just after a strong win.  Sometimes Arsenal players seem to get it into their heads that  the last game makes them infallible and they substitute complacency for confidence.  Then, when a ‘weaker’ team refuses to roll over and die, they don’t seem to be able to shift up a gear and respond.

All in all… a good start and plenty of potential in the fixtures ahead in November to keep the momentum going.  Come on Arsenal.