Contract negotiations can often be a drawn out process, especially when a team's two best players are involved.
Arsenal's hierarchy can take a lot of the blame for allowing the contracts of their two most important stars to run down at the same time, as they have been forced to deal with the tension amid committing a number of their other first team players to new deals in recent weeks.
New deals have been placed in front of the likes of Hector Bellerin, Laurent Koscielny and Olivier Giroud, meaning there have been bumper pay rises for all.
However, that's hindered the talks between the club and the two players as there is now less single room for their demands.
And in speaking with the Daily Mail, Arsenal chairman Sir Chips Keswick has explained that any prospective contracts for the pair will have to be 'rational'.
“We have continued to invest in the region of key players. Francis Coquelin, Hector Bellerin, Laurent Koscielny and Olivier Giroud have all signed new contracts, while we have taken up options to extend the contracts of Per Mertesacker and Santi Cazorla," he said.
“Further work is required in the area of contract renewals and we will continue to invest rationally in our squad retention.
"As expected, increased Premier League broadcasting revenues have had a direct impact on player costs both in terms of transfer prices and player wage demands.
"While these are market forces that have contributed directly over time to the success of the Premier League, I would sound a note of caution in light of the very material contractual commitments to future wages that clubs are taking on.”
He has a point, while there is more money flowing into Premier League clubs than ever before, just bowing to a player's demands is a dangerous game to play.
Regardless of whether they're Arsenal's most consistent performers, no club will want to be held to ransom by one of their own.
Keswick also makes a solid point about the money being used with caution. The sums flying around are utterly obscene and there is no telling when the bubble may burst.
Still, it's hardly going to come as comfort to the fans, who are desperate to see their two best players remain at the club for as long as possible.