Report: Arsenal tells Wilshere he can leave; Sampdoria will bid only £6M

With no assurances of a first-team place, Jack Wilshere could end his 16-year association with Arsenal this summer.

The midfielder has been told he can leave the club in the current transfer window, according to The Mirror's John Cross, and the Gunners are reluctant to loan him out again when he can leave for free upon his contract's expiration in June 2018.

Sampdoria is apparently interested, but the Serie A outfit will only commit to spending around £6 million on the 25-year-old.

Wilshere spent last season on a temporary stint in Bournemouth, but his awful luck with injuries continued when he suffered a fibula fracture in April. By then he had already lost his place in the starting XI, as Cherries manager Eddie Howe regularly plumped for Andrew Surman or Dan Gosling alongside Harry Arter in the middle of the park.

With nothing to suggest he can overcome repeated fitness issues and reach the potential he showed when becoming a regular in the senior squad in 2010, Arsenal appears to have lost patience.

There has been interest in England for Wilshere in recent months. Pep Guardiola - no doubt recalling Wilshere's superb performances against his Barcelona side in 2011 - identified the Hertfordshire lad as someone who could potentially fortify Manchester City's English core back in March. Cross understands West Ham United is also linked to Wilshere, and the player risked fuelling those rumours when he congratulated the Irons on completing a season-long loan for friend Joe Hart on Tuesday.

Despite spending a considerable amount of time in the treatment room, Wilshere still has 146 Premier League appearances and 34 international caps to his name.