Sign up to FREE email alerts from Football London - Arsenal Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Everton are growing in confidence that they can land Jack Wilshere this summer as his contract impasse with Arsenal continues.

Wilshere’s current deal at the Emirates runs out at the end of the season and despite talks over extending his stay in north London, he has yet to put pen to paper.

The expectation has always been that both parties will eventually come to an agreement, but as it stands it would take a big change of stance from one of the two sides for Wilshere to extend his stay.

Arsenal have offered him a new deal, but it is heavily incentivised and would see him have to take a basic pay cut of around £20,000 a week to remain at the club he has represented since he was a boy.

Wilshere has rejected that offer and is far from happy with the way he is being treated by the club, especially as they have just handed Mesut Ozil a mammoth new deal worth £350,000 a week.

Arsenal, however, believe the offer is fair and point to the fact that Wilshere has the chance to stay and earn more than he currently does, should he prove his fitness and play enough games.

Contract negotiator Huss Fahmy is handling the talks from Arsenal’s side and Wilshere remains hopeful that his relationship with Arsene Wenger could yet see both sides come to an agreement.

Wenger has stated on several occasions that he wants the 26-year-old to stay and has even handed him the captain’s armband on occasion in recent weeks.

Speaking last month, Wenger said: “I can only reassure him that I want him to stay and we have made him a proposal and after that we also have to accept that Jack is at an age where he will have offers from somewhere else.

“Personally, I have put my weight in for him to stay, I push him to stay and I think he’s an Arsenal man.”

But despite their close relationship, the Frenchman was going to let Wilshere leave last summer and told him that he was free to find a new club, but Wilshere opted to remain and fight for his place.

He has fought his way back into the first-team picture admirably, making 34 appearances in all competitions, but it is still unlikely that Arsenal will up their offer to the England international, especially as head of recruitment Sven Mislintat is looking to bring in at least one new central midfielder this summer, with Max Meyer a priority target.

(Image: PATRIK STOLLARZ/AFP/Getty Images)

That is giving rival clubs hope that Wilshere will run his contract down and become a free agent in the summer.

His representatives have been sounded out by several clubs about a potential move, including AC Milan and West Ham.

But football.london understands Everton are growing in confidence that they could win the race for Wilshere should he become available.

The Merseyside outfit have made it clear that they are willing to offer Wilshere a sizeable signing on fee and have no issue matching the wages he is currently on in north London.

They believe they can prove to the midfielder that they have the ambition to compete with the top teams in the country, whilst also pointing to their plans to move to a new stadium in the near future.

One issue that could work against the Toffees, however, is the situation surrounding the manager.

Sam Allardyce, who is a big fan of Wilshere, is far from certain to still be in charge next season and Wilshere will want to know what manager he will be playing under before making any firm decision on his future in the summer.

Keep up to date with the latest news, features and exclusive from football.london via the freefootball.london app for iPhone and Android.

Available to download from the App Store and Google Play.