Rangers remain in the hunt for Jack Wilshere with the sole sticking point surrounding whether or not he would be a good signing an obvious one.
His injury history is well publicised and Noel Whelan, speaking to Football Insider, believes that this could affect the terms on offer to the 28-year old.
So what has Whelan said?
When asked if he thought that a pay-as-you-play deal could be an option for Rangers and Wilshere, he said:
“I think it’s the safest thing to do – I’m sure Jack doesn’t want that, no player really does.
“Unfortunately, when you’ve got a track record like Jack Wilshere has with injuries, you’re not going to be the one in the driving seat when it comes to contracts. If you want to play football, it’s going to be on their terms.
“It’s a very big club, they’re giving you an opportunity. Now if you get paid as you play and can stay fit, then that might be discussed later on in time but at the minute, you’ve got to make sure this player is fully fit, 100 per cent fit before you start splashing any money out on big contracts.”
So is Whelan correct?
Having just had 85% of the last year of his West Ham United contract paid to him to allow his release, he isn’t going to be short of a penny or two, especially when you consider he has been a Premier League player since the age of 16.
Is a pay-as-you-play deal the only real option for Rangers?
Yes
No
He claims that he has been fit for some time now and is ready to go, however, the fact remains that he has had just one season without a serious injury or operation since 2011, glass ankles and plastic pitches do not a good combination make.
There is no doubt that Wilshere – with 34 England caps – will have plenty of offers on the table but a deal that sees him earn more when he is fit is probably the best he will get, or one that is heavily incentivised towards appearance bonuses, a move to Rangers could be a good fit though – almost guaranteed 55-60 games but he would only be expected to play half of them allowing him more rest and recovery time, something his scar tissue ridden joints would well appreciate.