Arsene Wenger has claimed that he wants Jack Wilshere to play ‘regularly’ over the coming weeks for Arsenal, having impressed in his rare appearances this term, and with him growing in strength.
The midfielder recently claimed he felt that he was at his strongest in a long-time, having suffered with numerous injury setbacks in previous seasons.
Wilshere is now 26 years-old, and has been at the club since he was only nine, but with only one year remaining on his current deal, could be set to part ways at the end of the season.
Jack is believed to be playing for his future, with him needing to prove his fitness in order to show his worth to the team, and Wenger is hopeful that the club and the player both get what they want from each other this season.
Wenger said: “Jack Wilshere struggled historically with repeated injuries and no one could question his talent, nobody would question his exceptional ability to beat people with the ball.
“But in this job you need to have health. The requests and demands of the competition, physically, are so high and you can only be at your best if you can play at least 10 games on the trot. That’s what’s at stake for Jack Wilshere.
“He needs to keep his health and be capable of competing. If he can play from now until December at the top level, he will be back. If he has other set-backs then it will be more difficult.
“It’s a vital season because he’s nearing the end of his contract, it’s a World Cup year and he has been an Arsenal player since he was a kid, so all that’s at stake for him and for us as well because you’d love a player like him of that quality to come back.
“In fact he had a very good game in BATE Borisov, especially a brilliant first half where he was back to his best, so he’s not far away now. Let’s hope in the next two or three weeks he can play regularly in the first team.”
I’m not 100% sure whose position in the starting line-up will be at risk to Wilshere once he proves his fitness, having played in CM and attacking roles previously, while his most recent outing came in the advanced role behind the striker.
Will a fit Wilshere stamp his mark down in the starting line-up? Can he really go the full season unscathed? Does his injury record mean he doesn’t deserve a new deal?
Pat J