As Manchester City Prepare ANOTHER Raid On Arsenal, Here's Why Wenger Would Be Foolish To Dismiss A Bid Of £30m For Crock

Arsenal have been here before. Manchester City sniffing around with their millions, looking to prize away some of Arsene Wenger's finest talent.

Jack Wilshere is the latest man linked with a switch to the Etihad Stadium, where he would follow the likes of Emmanuel Adebayor, Bacary Sagna and Samir Nasri who swapped London for the North-West as City stormed towards Premier League and FA Cup glory.

But times have changed. The Gunners are now ahead of City in the table and appear to be a club on the up, while the men from Manchester must rebuild. And if £30million or more is truly on the table for Wilshere, Arsenal must consider it.

But even as recently as this season, Wilshere was hitting form before going off against Manchester United. He was certainly more impressive than Aaron Ramsey and Santi Cazorla in the Arsenal midfield, and impressed for England in a deep-lying role.

There now seems to be little space for the Stevenage-born schemer to fit in this starting XI. Ramsey, Cazorla, Sanchez, Francis Coquelin, and Mesut Ozil played behind Olivier Giroud in the recent thumping victory over Liverpool, and that's without the likes of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Tomas Rosicky, Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck involved.

Of course, the ideal state of play would be for Wenger to build a team around Wilshere, a man who is signed on for three more years, and not to consider any bids from divisional rivals at least.

But Arsenal would be foolish to dismiss anything over £30m in today's market, especially considering the kind of players Wenger can now attract to the club.

Arsenal's relationship with City, who the club have never held a firm rivalry with, could also play a part. Any interest from fellow top-four clubs Chelsea or Manchester United would probably be dismissed immediately.

The current Premier League champions are looking to rebuild under Sheik Mansour and need homegrown, young players to freshen up an ageing side.

Wilshere is seen as a possibility along with Jordan Henderson in midfield. Raheem Sterling and Paul Pogba have also been linked with a summer transfer, with Nasri and Yaya Toure among many names who could leave.

But with Liverpool set to hand Henderson the captain's armband after Steven Gerrard's departure, his stay would seem more likely despite his contract running down at Anfield.

Arsenal fans would hate to see Wilshere go and he encapsulates the style at the Emirates. However, for a man who has scored five goals in his league career, and one who would not neccessarily push on close rivals to better things, it may be worth thinking about.