Arsene Wenger says Jack Wilshere deserves an Arsenal contract extension that makes him happy and still believes the 26-year-old can be one of the club’s future leaders.
Having returned from last season’s loan spell at Bournemouth with another injury and with his current deal set to end in June, few saw the midfielder’s long-term future at the Emirates. To his credit, he’s managed to turn things around for himself, building up his fitness in the first half of the season before coming to the fore in recent weeks.
The boss, who has always been a fan of a player he debuted at just 16, has been as impressed as anyone and it appears an agreement on future financial terms is edging closer.
“I see him here because he is an Arsenal man,” Wenger told Arsenal.com.
“He was here at the age of 10 and I believe as well he’s not only been here for a long time but he has some leadership qualities. He has a football brain. He is completely focused on Arsenal.
“The fact that he has been away and come back makes him realise as well that life here is not so bad maybe. That is something that is important that he can be one of the leaders in the future.
“He is much more patient and mature now. Before his desire to play was the only thing that mattered. Today he can analyse better. Is he fit or not fit? What is he to do? He has a lot of prevention to do and he does that religiously now. Before he was a bit more, ‘My body can take that’ like we all are when we are 20 years old.
“Who would question his love and commitment for the club,” Wenger added. “Nobody. We have to find an agreement that makes him happy and the wish that in the future he remains fit.”
Jack the Captain. He has more gears in him. Can Ramsey mature in midfield to give us what’s been missing? Hoping he stays fit and develops into a remarkable player. He’s capable of carrying us in difficult games.
It would be nice, but Wilshere is often either a match winner or a frustrated guy, with no real impact on the game but showing ‘spirit’. It’s a harsh judgment even in my book, but the reality is that the consistency of his fitness has given us only those two things. I know people are urgently hoping to see Jack grow into his future role, but he really needs to play a full season in an Arsenal shirt, first.
It’s hard to see a better option for captain next season. Kos is not realy a leader & you look around the rest of the squad, there’s very few realistic options.
Kos was always too introverted to be captain from the get go. Just a way of tying him to the club to make leaving harder
Much more likely to go to Rambo
I’ve never understood why goalies are made captains. For me personally, it should be an outfield player, and giving Jack that honour and responsibility should make him better. Rambo and Mustafi would be my vice-captains
Keepers usually:
Are older,
More experienced,
Watch the entirety of a game,
Are in charge of organising defenders already,
Play every minute of every game.
Hence why they make good captains 1981
Interesting perspective Goonerink. For me, goalkeepers are a different breed though. They’re almost not footballers as such. They often train apart from the rest of the squad for example. If they want to talk to one of their players during a game they often won’t get a chance for a long period. I’d never have one as captain personally given the choice…..it’s funny how we can all see something so differently.
As an aside…can anyone think of a goalkeeper who has been a successful coach after retiring ?
There have been a few that’ve done OK, but Dino Zoff is probably the most successful.
Another in a long line of things he’s said a million times before.
Making Wilshere captain next year would be a good move. I think the captaincy would mean the most to him and he would show that with the way he handled the role.
For sure he deserves a new contract. But stop all this future shit… enough now!
Yeah exactly! He is 26. This is it for Wilshere. I don’t know what future are they even talking about!?
The very epitome of what our team needs. Give him his due. Let’s all watch him blossom.
Gotta sign him up first… he’s been playing great and deserves a starting spot.
Would have been a good thing not to fuck around with the contract then. Say one thing and do another but you’ve got your values so everything is good
I think this would be an unbelievably stupid thing to not find a deal…but this is Arsenal. If we can persist with Diaby (amazing potential but too broken), then we can with Jack who has already given more of a return.
has he?
Wilshere should just sign whatever terms presented by Arsenal & celebrate it and get back on track.
I’d like to see Wilshere play a bit deeper alongside Ramsey. We seen he made some good defensive tackles. He keeps the balls well with his superb dribbling skill while Ramsey likes to make runs in front of opposition’s goal. With Wilshere and Ozil supplying and creating chances for our forwards I believe the goals are coming. Meanwhile, for Xhaka he can have his rest.
This idea if Jack as a DM needs to end. Not only does it put him at risk of re-injury, we’ve seen quite clearly in the last few weeks that he’s more influential in the final third.
The problem right now is this team needs a 3-man midfield, but Jack, Rambo and Xhaka are all incompatible. One of them has to give for a proper DM. And Xhaka is more sacrificial.
Completely agree, but why are we only being linked with attackers this window? Everyones getting excited about Aubameyang and Mkhtaryian whilst what we really need to sort out is our defence, starting with a proper DM
We need to find a way to get Xhaxa out of the midfield. and you paid Theo 140k why isn’t Jack worth that.
because he is always injured
Didnt know he playes despite beimg injured. imagine how amazing he must be when he plays without injuries, offer him 150k/week, before rivals reads Polys post!
Why not captain now?
Does it have to do with a pay cut?
Same was said to the Ox, rvp, cesc, henry all became captains in their final years, meaning they left as club captains. I dont support miss-using the captain armband as a contract negotiation tool like this. Wilshere may well deserve it, but you have to be proud enough as manager to not lower yourself to try keep the contract fee down by throughing in promises of captainship. Similarly obvious he had to mention fitness leves and injuries a milion times, in times when Wilshere seems to have get rid of them. While it should have some beering on contract negotiations,… Read more »
Just ignore this stuff. This is a typical statement made because of the ongoing contract negotiations. It’s all just to persuade him to sign. Don’t look too deeply into Arsene’s words.
What happens behind the scenes regarding his contract will happen. Let’s just sit back and relax.
And just hope our other transfer signings’ deals aren’t messed up in the last second.
My worry is Obamayang. Real Madrid clearly need a new striker, and i hope they don’t come calling for Obamayang before we tie him down…
Question for all fans:
Would you rather have lost to Sutton/Lincoln in FA Cup last year if it meant Wenger would not have had a new contract?
Thumbs Up for no FA Cup but new manager
Thumbs down for current situation
Silverware over everything. Get out with that bull.
Oh and chances are Wenger would’ve stayed anyways. He’s Wenger.
I agree – it was just a question to focus the minds given the Wenger-out feeling on the site.
Both!!!
yeah, that’s why you pay him peanuts
Wow, never heard him say that before. Pathetic
Not yet. Kos is still The Boss