Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has revealed that he will decide on the future of England international Jack Wilshere soon. The 25-year-old has suffered a series of injuries during his time at the Emirates, and this has hindered his chances of establishing himself as a regular in the starting lineup.
Prior to the Gunners’ Community Shield game against Chelsea on Sunday afternoon, Wenger admitted that he will decide on the future of Wilshere in the coming days.
The midfielder recently returned to full training after his leg fracture during his loan spell at Bournemouth, and Wenger appears to hint that the Englishman could play elsewhere, although his contract is due to expire next summer.
“The decision has not been completely made, but I want him to play somewhere,” he said. “We have to decide that later,” he told reporters h/t The Express. “First I wanted him to come back from his fracture. It’s the first week back from full training. We need to sit down and see where we go.”
Despite this, the manager has backed Wilshere to ‘enjoy his career’ after a difficult period where he has found himself in the treatment room more often than not, he added: “He has the talent to be a regular, but he has to come back to competition in a consistent way.”
Wenger has refused to bow down to contractual demands of his players this summer, and he admits that this could happen more with others clubs in the future as they don’t want to pay excessive transfer fees on ‘normal players’, he concluded: “It’s a new situation, but I personally warn you that you are going to see this more and more. Clubs don’t want to pay this amount of transfer fee for normal players. They will wait until the player is free.”
The likes of Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain have all entered the final year of their respective contracts at the Emirates, and it looks certain that Wenger is prepared to take a risk on all three as he looks to end the club’s long hunt for the Premier League title.
The Europa League does present a chance to lift European silverware next term, but Wenger has hinted that he will rest his first-choice players depending on the nature of the group they find themselves in.
