JACK'S ALL FIGHT NOW
‘Wenger told me I could go but I’m a battler’
JACK WILSHERE has revealed how Arsene Wenger told him he was no longer wanted at Arsenal. The Gunners boss broke the bombshell news to Wilshere at the start of the season. Despite having been at the club since the age of nine – making his debut at the age of 16 – Wenger said he was happy to let his injuryplagued midfielder go. But Wilshere refused to quit his boyhood club and has fought his way back to full fitness after a broken ankle. He has even captained Arsenal during his 31 appearances this season, already two more than in the whole of last season while on loan at Bournemouth.
Honest
Wilshere has also forced his way back into the England squad for tomorrow’s World Cup warm-up against Holland, having been absent since the disgraceful 2-1 defeat by Iceland which sent the Three Lions crashing out of Euro 2016.
Recalling the moment Wenger appeared to have given up on him, Wilshere told of how the Frenchman came up to him while he was on an exercise bike in the gym.
He said: “The manager said I could leave if I wanted to. It was an honest conversation. We have known each other long enough to have that relationship where we are honest with each other.
“It was boiling up for a while because everybody knew I had a year left on my deal and I had been out on loan, got injured and wasn’t really in his plans.
“He said, ‘I am going to be honest with you. At the moment we’re not going to be offering you a contact, so if you can get a contract somewhere else, you can go’.
“Obviously, I was not happy with that but at the same time I was happy he was being honest.
“He gave me the opportunity with three or four weeks left in the transfer window.
“But I did not find anything that I wanted and at the same time I wasn’t really fit, so I decided I wanted to stay and build up my fitness.
“He also said that if I did stay I had an opportunity to fight for my place and if I performed well in the Carabao Cup and
Europa League, I had a chance. I was in the position that I did not know what was going to happen in the coming season.
“I chose to stay and fight and I was always confident in my ability.
“But at the end of the day it is down to the manager whether he puts you in the team or not. Thankfully, he has and I have stayed in there.
“I have always had the confidence in myself and felt that if I got in there, I could put in the performances that would give me the opportunity to be back here with England.”
Wilshere, who has 34 England caps, has yet to sign a new Arsenal deal and has been able to talk to foreign clubs since the start of the year.
Missed
West Ham and Everton are keen on landing him on a free in the summer but Wilshere has not ruled out a move overseas with AC Milan heavily linked with him.
He said: “I definitely wouldn’t say no. Obviously when I decided to leave Arsenal – when I went to Bournemouth on loan – there were a few options from abroad.
“But I just felt it wasn’t the right time in my career because I’d missed too much Premier League football, and I missed playing in the Premier League.”
Wilshere accepts he needs to add more goals to his game – he has just 17 in 265 appearances for club and country.
He admits he could, if picked, find himself at the World Cup in Russia without a club for next season.
But he added: “I don’t think it would be a distraction because this is probably one of the most important years of my career.
“If I had let the contract and the future go to my head and I had worried about that, I would have probably ended up leaving in January.”