Jack Wilshere has again opened up on leaving the Emirates and he claims that Arsene Wenger had wanted to keep him for more seasons and the Frenchman had even worked on a new Arsenal deal for him.
However, when Arsenal decided that Wenger had to go and a new manager was to be appointed, things changed. He waited for Unai Emery to come in and the Spaniard made a remark that forced him to leave Arsenal for free.
The Englishman has had an injury-prone career, but when Emery was named as Arsenal’s manager, he was enjoying a good spell of form at the Emirates and he was probably hoping that the Spaniard would assure him of playing.
However, Emery already knew who he wanted to play for him and he was certain that Wilshere wasn’t part of his first-team plans.
The West Ham midfielder claims that the Spaniard told him right away that he wasn’t part of his first-team plans.
Wilshere that as quoted on Arsenal.com “I got offered a new deal and I wasn’t really happy with it, but Arsene was doing everything he could for me.
“We got to a point where I’d almost agreed it then the news came that Arsene was leaving, and I just thought, ‘How can I sign a new deal that is based on appearances with a manager who I don’t know?’
“When Emery came in I wanted to sit down and have a conversation with him, we did and he said, ‘Basically if I were you I would leave – you’re not in my starting XI.’
“He had plans to buy a midfielder, I think he bought [Lucas] Torreira, and I wasn’t in his plans.
“And that was the moment that it felt like the club was going in a different direction and I decided to leave.”
It is a shame it never worked out for Wilshere at Arsenal but I have no doubts that most Arsenal fans will always welcome updates on one of our own and hope that he finds some career satisfaction over the next few years.
Good move by Emery. Wenger too driven by sentiments far too many times and it would’ve been outrageous to offer Wilshere another new deal. He hasn’t been missed and is out for West Ham just as often as he was for us.