Arsenal have ‘demanded’ a huge fee of £12million from West Ham if they want to sign Carl Jenkinson on a permanent deal.
The 22-year-old is on loan at West Ham and has been very impressive so far. However reports suggest, Wenger has made it clear to Big Sam that he will have to spend a huge fee on the defender.
It’s unlikely that the Hammers will spend that amount of money on any defender, but Jenkinson will soon be unhappy at the Emirates Stadium if he isn’t given regular first-team football.
‘I didn’t want to have another season sitting on the bench,’ Jenkinson said.
‘It was starting to drive me up the wall a little bit, I wanted to get out and play football, and I’ve realised that I’m happiest when I’m playing regular football.
‘I didn’t want to go on loan to a team that was just going to kick the ball long. I wanted to go to a team where I was going to learn and improve and I think I’m definitely doing that here at West Ham.
‘We focus on defending in training and we do a lot of work on one-v-ones and heading and I feel I’ve developed in those areas. He’s given me the licence to get forward and express myself. I know what I’m capable of.’
Jenkinson has made 18 Premier League appearances for West Ham this season and has assisted 2 Premier League goals.