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Wiltord future in doubt
By Steve Stammers, Evening Standard Last updated at 00:00am on 20.05.03
Highbury headache: Sylvain Wiltord
Arsenal's rebuilding plans for next season have been dealt a blow by Sylvain Wiltord rejecting a new contract offer.
The club's record signing at £11million has one year left on his present deal, and Bayern Munich are among the clubs who would move in should agreement not be reached to keep him at Highbury.
Wiltord wants a substantial increase on his wages, which are thought to be in the region of £20,000 a week, and Arsenal may be forced to sell him rather than let his contract expire next June.
He will then be eligible for a free transfer under the Bosman ruling, whereas if they cash in now, he could fetch around £3.5m in a much-deflated transfer market.
That would represent a huge loss for Arsenal following their outlay when they bought him from Bordeaux in August 2000 after his heroics for France in Euro 2000, when he scored the last-minute equaliser in the final against Italy.
Wiltord insists he would like his future to be at Highbury. He said: "I love the club and I want to stay here."
But he is also insistent that he will not undervalue his talents. He scored 13 goals this season to bring his career total at Arsenal to 45.
Last season he scored the winner in the 1-0 win at Old Trafford that secured the title and this season he was responsible for decisive strikes against Manchester United and Chelsea in the FA Cup.
However, he was less than impressed with the initial offer and there will be further talks in the next three weeks between manager Arsene Wenger and Wiltord's advisors.
It is yet another contractual dilemma for manager Wenger to resolve. Only the future of Thierry Henry has been settled when it was announced he had signed a new deal until 2007.
Wenger is already talking with Patrick Vieira and Robert Pires about new deals and he must decide soon about the futures of David Seaman and Dennis Bergkamp as well as that of Oleg Luzhny. All three were part of the FA Cup winning team against Southampton but are now free agents after their contracts ran out.
