Arsenal have opened talks to extend the contracts of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Santi Cazola.
According to a report in The Standard Arsene Wenger is keen to start talking with half a dozen players as well as the highly publicised deals for Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil.
Olivier Giroud and Jack Wilshere are also in the group out of contract in June 2018 with Arsenal realistically having six months to get the players on new deals or prepare replacements.
Wenger claimed that he’d rather let Sanchez’s contract run out than sell him to Chelsea next summer but that sentiment could be put to the test if a big money bid arrives for the Chilean striker.
“We have started talking to Oxlade-Chamberlain, we’ve started with Santi as well and will certainly extend with him,” Wenger explained. “We will work with Giroud as well and on many players.
“That explains to you why we have a lot of work to do, but you are only interested in two cases.”
While the two Manchester clubs seem to be involved in a wages war to hand over the most money to players Arsenal are believed to be imposing a £200,000/week limit on new contracts.
Wenger’s belief in the unity of the team ahead of satisfying individual needs will be put to the test with no sign of Ozil or Sanchez agreeing to stay within that framework when bigger offers are available elsewhere.