Sampdoria could offer injury-plagued Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere a surprise escape route out of the Emirates club, with reports suggesting that the Serie A giants are interested in pursuing a summer deal.
That is according to Sky Italy, who further suggest that Arsenal are only seeking a fee of approximately £9m ($11.6m) for the English man who has now entered the final year of his contract. Sampdoria finished 10th in Serie A in Marco Giampaolo’s first season reign at the club and have already complete move for Gianluca Caprari, Nicola Murru and Dawid Kownacki over recent weeks in addition to selling Milan Skriniar, Luis Muriel and Bruno Fernandes.
Wilshere’s future at the Emirates has been subject to doubt for quite some time, with the 25-year-old joining Premier League rivals Bournemouth on a season-long loan deal on deadline day last August after rejecting the chance to move to Crystal Palace.
The English man made a total of 29 top-flight appearances under Eddie Howe as the Cherries nailed their maiden top-half finish, but saw his time on the south coast predictably curtailed by yet more injury woe.
The Arsenal academy graduate limped out of a heavy 4-0 defeat at Tottenhm Hotspur in April after he suffered another fractured fibula and was subsequently ruled out for the remainder of the season.
Howe was quick to concede that it would be “very difficult” for his side to secure the permanent return of the 32-cap England international.
Whether he would be open to a move to Italy remains to be seen at this stage. AS Roma and AC Milan were also said to be interested ion his signature in the summer of 2016, but the Gunners were reportedly not willing to sell him with the former having been upset with the way they handled negotiations regarding a potential deal for Greek centre-back Kostas Manolas.
West Ham United is another Premier League club also interested in Wilshere after reports claimed they were willing to spend up to £30m on his signature. Hammers boss Slaven Bilic described Wilshere as a “great player with great ability” and it was generally thought that they remained the firm favourites to entice him away from Arsenal.
When asked about that speculation in an interview with talkSPORT earlier this month, Hammers co-chairman David Gold claimed the club would always be interested in players of high quality but reiterated a desperate need for them to priorities the addition of two new strikers amid supposed interest in the likes of Javier Hernandez, Olivier Giroud and Kelechi Iheanacho.