Jack Wilshere publicly announced last week that he felt he had to leave Arsenal this season if he was going to allow his career to progress forward. After being snubbed for the English national side and with competition for places extremely high at Arsenal, it was a big wake up call for Wilshere, who felt it was the right time to move on.
Of course Wilshere never intended on leaving Arsenal for good, and he managed to secure a last minute loan move away to the South Coast of England with AFC Bournemouth. It was a slightly surprising move, especially with various other ‘higher profile clubs’ supposedly interested in signing Wilshere on loan for the season. However the midfielder obviously felt Bournemouth was the right move for him and so far he has made some good progress towards rejuvenating his career. He hasn’t had an injury concern as of yet, despite a few rumours in the papers, whilst although he has been poor in a few matches, it comes as no real surprise given that he is now playing a completely different style of football compared to his time at Arsenal.
Jamie Redknapp previously suggested that Wilshere doesn’t have a future at Arsenal anymore and that he should be looking to leave the Gunners permanently at the end of the season. That comes as disappointing news for Arsenal fans, because despite the Englishman’s antics off the pitch, he’s a Gooner at heart and it would be disappointing to see a true fan of the club having to leave. Wilshere of course argued that the statement is nothing more than an opinion and now Arsene Wenger has backed Wilshere up by saying he believes the player has a future at Arsenal.
Wenger spoke about Wilshere today and was keen to point out that in his opinion, Wilshere will have a future at Arsenal. It’s positive news for the player, especially if Wenger remains in charge for next season (which does look increasingly likely as of this moment). Personally I would like to see Wilshere remain with the Gunners, because although he still has a lot to overcome, regarding his injures and beating his competition to get a starting spot on the team, I think he does still have the potential to become a Gunners great. He’s shown what he’s capable of in the past, he just needs to get over his injures and rediscover his form.
Admittedly we’d all love to see Wilshere make it back into this Arsenal side, but realistically, will he ever get a chance to do so?
By AH