Wilshere extension 'a formality'

English publication 'The Daily Mirror' reports that that 26-year-old has handed the 'Gunners' a major boost by indicating he is willing to sign a new three-year deal with the option for a further 12 months.

It marks the conclusion of months of tense negotiations that had looked like ending with the playmaker departing his boyhood club for pastures new.

It is understood that Wilshere was unimpressed by Arsenal's offer of a more incentivised deal with a lower weekly wage, but those qualms seem to have been smoothed over.

The good news will proved a welcome boost to Wilshere after he suffered the frustration of being left out of Gareth Southgate's England squad for the upcoming World Cup in Russia.