Frank Lee
Who would have thought it? The kid who excited us so much ten years ago, the player who had been developed by the club and viewed as a future first team captain, on the edge of departing Arsenal on a free transfer.
For Wilshere himself, injuries, not least to Aaron Ramsey, has given him the opportunity to play in Arsenal’s Premier League matches – something that never looked likely at the season’s start. Like many other second stringers, he was selected for the Europa League and the Carabao Cup games. It was hardly a ringing endorsement, although Arsene Wenger can argue match fitness needed to be developed after another spell out on the sidelines that began at Bournemouth.
And Wilshere’s greater involvement has certainly benefitted him in two specific ways. First up, it has given him the opportunity to put himself in the shop window. And secondly, it has enhanced his chances of making Gareth Southgate’s England World Cup Final squad, having missed out in 2010 due to injury and making only a token contribution in 2014. England may not be among anyone’s serious tips for Russia, but it is a further opportunity for Wilshere to establish his reputation once and for all… assuming of course we can get into the starting line-up. He suffered a minor knee injury at the most recent national get together, which brings us nicely onto the main reason Arsenal are not busting a gut to ensure he remains.
When Ivan Gazidis arrived at Arsenal in 2009, he spoke of training a “laser sharp focus” on the club’s wage bill to ensure it was getting the maximum efficiency from its group of players. It didn’t happen, as he was never able to wrest control of the decisions on how to utilise the transfers and wages budget from the manager. So the manager ended up showing great loyalty to the likes of Abou Diaby, Robin Van Persie, Aaron Ramsey, Theo Walcott and others who seemed to be consistently injured. Jack Wilshere was one too, and in more recent times Santi Cazorla is another example. Laurent Koscielny can only be played selectively due to his own Achilles’ problem. Arsenal’s recent club captains have all also spent lengthy periods on the treatment table – Vermaelen, Arteta, Mertesacker. There’s a bit of a pattern here.
No-one can blame those that were injured, but for many seasons, the club’s record with absent players was far worse than most, raising questions about the rehabilitation process. How often was a player on the way back before suffering another setback? It was known privately in the autumn of 2009 that Jack Wilshere would not be fit in time for the 2010 World Cup Finals (then England manager Fabio Capello rated him highly), but the club were giving out a message that he was only weeks away from a return.
Now that the wind of change is blowing through Arsenal and Arsene Wenger’s influence, as his time winds down, is waning, decisions over what to offer whom will be taken out of his hands, remembering that he is unlikely to be around when the next wave of deals expire. The decision to award Mesut Ozil in the region of £300,000 a week was down to three things. 1. The club could not be seen to lose both him and Alexis Sanchez in the same year. 2. Ozil is actually highly rated by the decision makers at the club, with a belief that he can propel Arsenal to greater things under a different first team coach. 3. The cost of a transfer fee to replace him was a factor in the amount he was offered. The contract is three and a half years. If half his wages were viewed as effectively a transfer fee the club did not have to spend, that comes to under £30 million. Ozil’s own “injury problems” are generally related to him wanting a few days off rather than anything long term.
With Wilshere, it’s a different matter. Firstly, the manager effectively gave up on him in the summer of 2016 when he offered him out for a year’s loan. The player proved his fitness for two thirds of the season at Bournemouth before befalling injury again and returning to Arsenal. In August, Arsene Wenger told him he could leave if he could find a club. However, this season, he has not been out for any significant spell after returning to match action in the autumn, but his inability to take part in either of England’s friendlies will have raised eyebrows. Additionally, although the manager may not be involved in the wage negotiations anymore, he is unlikely to be making a big case for the player when the issue is discussed.
The problem with all this is that, for the fans, Wilshere embodies what they feel Arsenal should be about – in terms of spirit and will to win. In the team’s poorer performances, he can often seem to be the only bright light, the one player who does not give up, and keeps battling. The Carabao Cup Final is a recent example, West Ham away in the Premier League before Christmas another. A few seasons ago, the player was viewed as a future cornerstone of the club, an obvious captain in the making. Supporters could identify with him.
But in reality, the identity of Arsenal is something that has changed significantly under Arsene Wenger. The same happened to Liverpool once Kenny Dalglish left in 1991. And it’s happened to Manchester United since Alex Ferguson’s departure. When fans see an echo of the past, they celebrate it. So the attacking football of Liverpool’s Suarez-Sturridge-Sterling combination and more recently their forward line-up this season with Mo Salah scoring for fun has brought joy to those who recall the club’s period of domination between 1973 and 1990. Wilshere at Arsenal is one of the few individuals who would not have looked out of place in the title winning sides of 1971, 1989 and 1991, sharing the qualities of grit, determination and drive. Technique had its place, but it was far less of a priority than winning your individual battle.
But fan sentiment is not going to persuade the club to improve their offer. Wilshere will get better money elsewhere, principally due to a signing on fee. Arsenal will let him go because in their view, they believe that his fitness is too much of a gamble. That Gareth Southgate could not play him does seem to back that up. Only the next three seasons, wherever our number 10 ends up, will tell us the wisdom of that decision. One small aside in this saga is that, reputedly, Mesut Ozil has been promised the number 10 shirt next season. The club may want to avoid an embarrassing situation if that was an agreement they struck when the player signed on until 2021.
