If recent reports are to be believed then Arsenal’s star midfielder Jack Wilshere is increasingly likely to leave the Emirates this summer as Skybet have London club West Ham United as the new favourites to land the 25-year-old English international.
The Arsenal academy product had an immensely promising start to his professional career with many touting him as the next big thing in England, but recurring injuries have hampered some of his very crucial years. The North London giants had to finally loan him off to Bournemouth last summer, where he enjoyed a rather long injury-free period before succumbing to yet another damage.
He has returned from loan, but breaking into Arsenal’s current midfield is a difficult job at the moment. Having the likes of Santi Cazorla, Granit Xhaka, Aaron Ramsey, Mohamed Elneny and Francis Coquelin leaves hardly any space for Arsene Wenger to give a try to the club’s beloved youth product. With the World Cup knocking on the door, first team chances would be quintessential for Wilshere and the club has apparently decided to sell him now.
While a lot of other top Premier League sides are also in the queue to get him, the London Stadium seems the most likely destination for him now. Slaven Bilic had to endure a horror of a season last term as the Hammers finished 11th in the League table with just 45 points from 36 games.
Compared to their previous season, where they managed to finish in the seventh position and qualify for the Europa League in the process, scoring has taken a huge blow for the London side this season. The Hammers could create only a paltry 351 chances in the whole season and the outcome of only 47 goals was inevitable.
West Ham United had to play the entire second half of the season without a potential playmaker in the central attacking midfield. The forced departure of Dimitri Payet from the London Stadium last winter left a huge hole, one that couldn’t be replaced by bringing in Robert Snodgrass from Hull City. While Manuel Lanzini did manage to pull strings from wide areas, he often found himself helpless in the attacking third.
Bringing in Wilshere would definitely be a huge level up for West Ham by all means, as the central midfielder possess tremendous dribbling abilities and terrific vision with the ball at his feet, but his affinity to injuries could be a huge risk for Bilic.
Since breaking into Arsenal’s first team back in 2009, Wilshere has missed a whopping 154 games with injuries spending more than three years on the sidelines in total. While his clicking at West Ham could make them one of the top four challengers for sure, there are bigger things at stake here.
