Jack Wilshere says helping Bournemouth avoid relegation is his main focus and that he is not in a rush to commit his future to Arsenal.
The 25-year-old moved to the Vitality Stadium on a season-long loan in the summer after Arsene Wenger felt unable to guarantee the midfielder regular football at the Emirates.
Since then the Frenchman has reiterated his belief that the England international, whose current Gunners deal ends in July 2018, has a future in North London.
“I’m not thinking about my future,” Wilshere told the Daily Mirror.
“I’ve got a year left at Arsenal and as soon as the season ends I’ll sit down and I’ll think about it.
“But my main concern at the moment is trying to keep Bournemouth in this league because no matter what happens next year, if I’m here if I’m not, if I’m at Arsenal – whatever – you know no one wants a relegation next to their name.
“You don’t want to be involved in a team that got relegated so that’s what we’re doing now, trying to put Bournemouth in a good position and at the end of the season I’ll have a think about it.”
Bournemouth, for whom Wilshere has made 24 appearances this season, are currently six points clear of the relegation zone in 14th place.
The relegation fight this season seems to be pulling in more teams as the weeks go by. A few weeks ago Middlesbrough looked fine, now Hull are having a resurgence, Bournemouth now can’t defend. At least that might be fairly interesting as the season goes on. The title race certainly isn’t (I don’t particularly want to think about the fight for 4th).
come back Jack. We need you next season (I needed you this one)
Way better than Rambo in imo
off topic but has anyone heard anything from rambling pete? I miss that guy too….
If you don’t want relegation next to your name, you don’t go to a team whose ambitions are mainly fighting to avoid relegation. Simple as that.
So drop down a division and play for a mid table championship side?
Can’t say that’s unreasonable with all the uncertainty at Arsenal at the moment. Hope he stays – think he offers a bit more than other midfielders we have at the club at the moment.
For me, if he is genuinely thinking about staying at Bournemouth over coming back to Arsenal, then he isn’t what we need. It will be a real shame to see him leave, but ultimately if that’s where is head is, then its honestly pointless bringing him back.
If he leaves it certainly won’t be to stay at Bournemouth. There will be bigger clubs interested in him. And with the current state of affairs at Arsenal and how in one season away he has had his most injury free season he has had, I wouldn’t blame him for leaving
Of course he’s not thinking of staying at Bournemouth. He’s far too good for a side fighting relegation. He’s just showing some loyalty towards the team he has been playing for this season and that is honourable. I believe he will return to Arsenal next season and we can certainly use a player of his class and his fighting qualities.
I think he may well be thinking of staying at Bournemouth. He’s a big fish in a small pond, no competition for a starting place, nice town by the sea with his best mate Benik Afobe, with the new girlfriend and away from the ex-partner and the kids, and gets to play all the time so he’ll get picked for England. He’s been pretty average since he’s been there and I don’t think he’s good enough for a starting spot at Arsenal. If he was a fighter he would have stayed and fought for his place, but he didn’t and… Read more »
Yeah Vonnie, that’s what I have been thinking too. I genuinely think he might choose to stay at Bournemouth, which will be a shame, but its something we’ve seen so many times at Arsenal over recent years – young players coming through into the first team, then not having the bottle for it and moving off to smaller clubs, and lets face it, Jack has had more then enough opportunities to forge a career at Arsenal and for whatever reason it just hasn’t panned out like we all thought it would.
I’m at a point where I don’t care who leaves this summer. I want a big summer clear out, anyone that’s not 100% committed and dedicated to fight for this club can fuck off!!
After everything we’ve done for Jack if he doesn’t feel an urge to win something for our fans that have put up with his shit over the years then there’s something really wrong with him.
No player is ever irreplaceable, and at the moment all Arsenal players are replaceable.
Personally, I think Wilshere’s potential has been ruined by injuries. Can’t see him having a future at Arsenal beyond being a rotation player.
I expected him to have a slow start after being out for so long, but he should be doing better than two assists all season, and not a single goal scored. For a team who have had no problems scoring goals all season.
3 assists, he set up a nice winner on the weekend.
I know what you mean though. Would you rely on him as a starter with his poor injury record? Same thing can be said about Ramsey actually.
he is more like a controlling midfielder than one like ozil for instance who have loads of assists and goals
the old ‘i want to focus on playing now and talk about important contract stuff at the future while my agents are busy sounding out clubs quietly before pimping me out when the transfer window opens’ double-speak…
He is injury prone (at Arsenal). looking better now. Considering the passion and dedication to the club gave worth trying to tie down. City might be playing spoilsport.
At Bournemouth too – look at the games he’s missed through injury recently.
Lee Cattermole , Jack Rodwell , Dan Gosling, Jack Wilshere…all hailed as “new X, new Y” only to end-up at mid-table teams. I think it’s time for Arsenal to move on…yes, I’m fully aware about downvotes but someone needs to point out the obvious. Will we ever have another great no. 10 ?
If nothing at all, he got a new perspective playing in a different team and different surroundings. It will be easier for him to choose between Arsenal or anywhere else at the of the season.
I don’t think he will have that choice. He made his decision last summer, unless Wenger leaves this summer then it will be he who makes the decision, not Jack. And, frankly, why would we want someone who put the needs of Fat Sam above The Arsenal?
Sad to say i can’t ever see jack being a regular first team starter at AFC . Nor do i think he is good enough to play for a top 4 side. My reason because he’s all round average . Add in his very unlucky injury record , & i can’t see how he can stay at AFC longterm without either a formation change or a blistering upturn in form
I still rate him higher than Ramsey or Xhaka. And if Ozil doesnt sign there is no reason he cant fight for the first 11 no matter the manager. If you say his numbers are not impressive right now, to me he is an english Iniesta. Put some quality players around him and he keeps the team ticking.
His footwork is what made him a dangerous player. The problem is that I don’t think he is a mobile player. The jury still out on this one.
well, we should obviously call him back right away to help us with our relegation battle
wow, sarcasm really is a lost art form on the world wide web
Not to be harsh or anything, but has wilshere ever made 24apps in a season at Arsenal? He’s always injured at Arsenal, but not at bournemoth. Something at Arsenal smells fishy.
He’s missed the last few weeks at Bournemouth with injury. But let’s not let that get in the way of a good yarn, eh?
Jackie boy unsure which club bench and treatment table he’ll be part of next season.
Looks like injury free at Bournemouth, maybe there is something wrong with the training facility or medical treatment at our club.
As I say above – he’s missed the last few weeks at Bournemouth through injury so, no, he hasn’t been injury-free and that would rather indicate that the issue is with the human being.
Part of the what if crowd if you ask me.
Diaby
Eduardo
Van Persie
and Jack
Those 4 fit could have made any team better. Big shame that injuries took these players good or developing years.
I think he will have a great partnership with Xhaka next season from a deeper position. He has played very consistently for Bournemouth this season. In a stronger team like our he will have a storming season. Don’t write him off guys!
Given massive contracts not because they had earned them but because they were a British core that “wouldn’t think of leaving like the bloody Nasri ”
In this spell they’ve added next to nothing to merit improved terms (to be fair injuries played a part in addition to them peaking well below crazy expectations) .
Next we’ll give them crazy new long term contracts because they are a British core thinking of leaving like blood Nazri.
If they leave, we’ll claim it’s not the same. After all they have chins
You what?
I don’t know what the fuck you just said little man, but you reached out and that touches my heart.
Ironic. Fans constantly talk of players lacking in loyalty to the club, and when I player releases a perfectly reasonable statement about his contract situation, after being at the club since 9 and made it very clear his preference is to stay, all of a sudden fans are swift to turn on him. The player we were all hailing and waiting for his recovery last season is all of a sudden “average” because he only has 2 assists and no goals all season (how about looking at his other stats, such as pass completion, chances created, dribbling, time on the… Read more »
If Ox and Jack can put injury problems behind them I like it, but surely with Jack at the attacking role.
In a 4-3-3 there is no dedicated “attacking role”, both Jack and Ox are CMs (B2B) and Xhaka is the Deeper-Lying of the CMs.
I don’t think anyone is calling Jack ‘average’. The issue is that Jack showed no loyalty to the club last summer when he put his international career ahead of fighting for his place at The Arsenal. I think he could have been so useful to us this season, especially after Cazorla got injured, but he’s been living the easy life down at Bournemouth when we really needed him. As a result people need to accept that he’s likely to never play a competitive game for the club again (unless we get a new boss in the summer with a different… Read more »
I’m sure our treatment room is more comfy.
The problem is fans are driven by emotions..we all love Wilshere….but let us ask ourselves and just put our luv for the individual aside..
Is Wilshere the player to drive us to the EPL title after 14yrs?…Is he taking games by the scruff of the neck and driving Bournemouth up the league table?…
I luv Wilshere but not at any cost..if he wants to stay he is welcome but if the wants to leave I won’t be losing sleep..
There is plenty up in the air right now. A lot of it is NOT (contrary to popular opinion) in the control of the board or manager. As mentioned, it takes 3 parties to agree on contracts and extensions. The players (and their agents) are part of it. IF the players (Ozil, Alexis, Ox or Jack), do not see their future with us, there is very little the board can do even if tabling money on the table (unless you want to go into astronomical sums like Pogba) With the gaffer’s own future up for renewal, I think the players… Read more »
He hasn’t exactly set the premiership alight.
Its going to get a bit crowded next season in midfield, now that Ox is also an option. If you have to resign one of the two, who will you keep? Thmbs up for Ox, thumbs down for Jack
If only you didn’t get injured so much jack, things could be different if you were fit and played at your full potential, we miss you in midfield. You know you’ll be back at the emirates next season ?
Any arsenal fan who thinks our problems run as shallow as a player staying, a player leaving or a new manager is delusional. Our club needs mass overhaul. Everyone needs to accept that we need to go in to the wilderness for a few years in order to recover, recycle and rebuild. There is no quick fix.
All right. I’m just going to come out and say it. With Ozil, WIlshere, and Alexis possibly leaving and Cazorla possibly not being ready for the start of next season, we might want to consider bringing Cesc back
Why? There are thousands of professional footballers out there and you want to go back to the Chelsea rat that feigned injury and jumped ship when the going got tough? Let’s bring van Persie, Anelka, Cole and Stapleton back while we’re at it and have a real laugh.
Name one player who plays a creative position, is on Ozil’s level creatively and is available next summer.
I’ll wait.
He’s still a top player if we can look past our prejudices.
(btw I am very sure Wenger had a big part to play in Cesc feigning injury. It was probably even his idea)