Jack Wilshere secured a deadline day loan move to Bournemouth as the midfielder linked up with his best friend Benik Afobe at Dean Court. Wilshere was made available on loan when Arsene Wenger deemed that the midfielder won’t get the playing time he needs at the moment. Wilshere has been always the player who has the potential to be amongst the top midfielders of the world. The biggest problem which has almost stagnated his progression has been his injuries. If the player had been playing regularly since 2011, then things would have been very different.
Arsenal’s number 10 made the world aware of his talent when he dictated the play from the middle against Barcelona at 19! Playing at The Emirates for a Champions League round of 16 game, the young Englishman was adjudged the man of the match as he not only kept up but also excelled against the likes of Xavi and Iniesta in the middle third of the pitch. Recently Xavi pointed out his performances of that particular night and claimed that an injury free Wilshere is good enough to be in the mix for being the best midfielder in the world. However, the career of the 24-year old has always been stopped short with the injury roadblock.
After a hugely promising season in 2010/11, the midfielder couldn’t even feature for a single minute the next season as a nasty ankle injury ruled him out. The ankle has troubled him ever since with his hamstring. Since 2011, Jack has been able to complete only 44 of the 231 games on offer at Arsenal and has featured for a total of 6934 minutes on the pitch which on the whole equates to only 33.4%. It means that the player has been able to play only a third of the Premier League minutes played by Arsenal. It’s easy to see now how hard it has been for the player to make progression with that sort of appearance record and most importantly injury worries.
Bournemouth thus presents the biggest opportunity for the England international to resurrect his career and get to a level where he can be the player Wenger needs at his disposal at Arsenal. It is absolutely crucial to get match fit and Wilshere would have the chance of making a real impact for Bournemouth. Even though he can’t take his place for granted at Dean Court, the chance of featuring consistently would go a long way for the player to get back his rhythm and influencing proceedings would also boost his confidence. He just needs to do it on a consistent basis over a period of weeks and months.
If it all goes well as planned then Arsene Wenger would be the happiest person and would welcome him back to his team and utilize him in the way he wants to next season. If it doesn’t then Arsenal would seriously consider selling him. Thus, in many ways, this loan deal would have a big influence on the future of the midfielder at the Emirates.
