Happy Jack says ‘I’m buzzing’.. but still no Gunners contract talks are planned
WILSHERE MUST IMPRESS BOSS
JACK WILSHERE is still in the dark over whether he has an Arsenal future.
Gunners boss Arsene Wenger (above) had promised to get the situation sorted to end the uncertainty over the England midfielder whose contract expires at the end of the season.
But Wilshere revealed that Wenger has yet to begin talks over a new deal, with clubs, including West Ham, interested in signing him in January.
Wilshere made his first Premier League start of the season in the 0-0 draw at West Ham on Wednesday night.
And, as far as contract talks are concerned, he said: “There’s not really a date in the diary. I’m concentrating on staying fit and staying in this team.
“That will look after itself. When it’s the right time to talk about it, I’m sure the boss will call me and we’ll have a chat.
“But I’ve just had my first Premier League start, I’m buzzing, I’m happy about that.
“The next step is getting back regularly into the Premier League team and trying to stay in it.
“There’s another game on Saturday, we’ll see what the boss does – that’s all I’m focused on.
“This time of the year is probably the most important because the games come thick and fast.
“That’s a good thing because we dropped points against West Ham, but we’ve got a chance to get three points on Saturday at home to Newcastle.”
Wilshere, who had previously only started in the Europa League this season, is desperate to get more regular domestic games to press his England claims, with time running out for the World Cup.
Talking about the difference between the Premier League and the Europa League, he added: “The pace is higher, you don’t get much time, the defenders you play against are a little bit stronger. You’ve got to do everything, you’ve got to be able to go forward, defend to win the ball back, so that makes it a little bit different.
“But I enjoyed playing in midfield and, hopefully, I’ll get more opportunities.”
As for the Gunners’ trip to the London Stadium, Wilshere insisted Arsenal deserved to take all three points against the Hammers.
He had hoped to team up more with Mesut Ozil (above, right) in midfield to try to break the deadlock, but it was not to be.
The stalemate now leaves Arsenal languishing in seventh place, sweating on a Champions League finish.
The 25-year-old said: “I think we did enough to take home three points. I felt we deserved it, really. We were in control, apart from the little chance at the end for Javier Hernandez when we made a mistake. They didn’t really have much.
“It’s difficult as well when you come up against teams who just want to sit behind the ball and hit you on the counter. Fair play to them, they made it difficult.
“We felt like we were in control and, overall, we felt disappointed not to get the three points.
“We wanted to get a few more bodies in midfield, with me and Mesut pushing on and Granit Xhaka holding a little bit.
“We knew that we had to be proactive when we were attacking.
“That’s when West Ham are most dangerous, when they clear the ball and they hit Michail Antonio or Marko Arnautovic.
“On another night, we would have won it.
“But now we’ve just got to bounce back against Newcastle.”