Report: West Ham to only offer Jack Wilshere one-year deal

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West Ham United are reportedly not prepared to hand Jack Wilshere a long-term deal at the London Stadium initially.

According to a report from The Sun, West Ham are only prepared to offer Jack Wilshere an initial one-year deal at the London Stadium in a move that has risked their chances of signing the midfielder this summer.

Wilshere is set to be a free agent with his Arsenal contract expiring imminently, but while the Hammers are keen on signing the 26-year-old – who earns £90,000-a-week at the Emirates according to the London Evening Standard – The Sun reports that Manuel Pellegrini only has plans to hand the Englishman a deal that will expire next summer.

The Sun adds that the Irons’ concerns about his fitness are behind their reluctance to offer more than a one-year contract initially, but they are risking opening the door for some of their rivals to swoop in with Everton and Juventus also keen on landing Wilshere.

It is perhaps a surprise that Wilshere has been informed that he needs to prove himself before earning a new deal. He played 38 times in all competitions last season so appears to have proven his fitness as much as he possibly can.

So unless West Ham have plans to continually offer him one-year extensions for the duration of his potential spell at the London Stadium, there seems little point making such an offer when others may well be prepared to put better terms on the table for him.

And if Wilshere does ultimately accept the one-year deal and enjoys the kind of season that attracts major attention – he certainly has the potential to put that kind of run together – then West Ham will be kicking themselves if they are unable to prevent him leaving the club for free in 2019.

It may make a lot of sense in the short-term, but perhaps rolling the dice on his fitness may reap much greater rewards for Pellegrini’s men.