Roy Hodgson has made it absolutely clear that Jack Wilshere is not on Crystal Palace’s radar and claimed that the player’s agent is probably responsible for such speculation.

The 25-year-old is out of contract at the Emirates next summer and could be a target for a number of clubs in January should he continue to miss out on Premier League game time under Arsene Wenger.

Despite the prospect of Wilshere potentially coming on the market, Hodgson, who gave the midfielder his last cap at Euro 2016, today went out of his way to nip the rumour in the bud.

“Who has linked him?” questioned the veteran coach. “That’s what you need to find out, because it didn’t come from us.

“I will tell you who, his agent – because that’s where newspapers get their stories from.

“We have never mentioned his name. I work with Dougie Freedman and we talk about potential players, and Jack Wilshere’s name has never been mentioned in this room.

“I like him and I think he is a very good player. There may come a time at Crystal Palace where Jack Wilshere would be just the player we are looking for, but I can’t tell you that is the case at the moment.”

He added: “But good luck to Jack, I think he is an outstanding player and I have got nothing but respect for him, I like him very much, but why his name should be being talked about for Crystal Palace, I don’t know.”