We’re heading towards the close of the transfer window, and focus again turns to a departure rather than any further arrivals. This morning various reports say that Arsenal are prepared to let Jack Wilshere leave the club on loan in order to give him the playing time he needs.
The Arsenal midfield is a crowded area at this moment in time, and Wilshere has to compete with Granit Xhaka, Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey, Santi Cazorla, Mohamed Elneny, and Francis Coquelin. There are three places, and seven men competing for them. Depth: we has it. Lots of it.
So far this season Wilshere has made just two substitute appearances – against Leicester and Watford – and he’s done ok without really setting the world alight. But then he’s played so little football over the last 12 months, it’s going to take time for him to get back to anything approaching his best.
Yet herein lies the Catch-22. Without playing regularly he’s never going to play to his potential, and when you’ve got players like Xhaka, Ozil and Cazorla doing what they do, it’s going to be hard to get into the team every week. It also means that when he does he’s going to have to impress mightily to dislodge them.
The benefits of a loan spell are pretty obvious … for Wilshere. He could go somewhere, play week in, week out, get properly match fit, get properly match sharp, and ideally that would then provide him a platform to come back to Arsenal and give Arsene Wenger something to think about. All of this, of course, is dependent on him staying fit for longer than he has done for a long time.
Last season was pretty much a write off. In 2014-15 he played just 23 times and was out of action completely between November and May. In 2013-14 he managed 48 appearances for club and country, on top of 35 the season before that but missed the whole of the 2011-12 campaign. Talent is not Jack Wilshere’s problem, anyone can see there’s plenty of that, fitness is.
He’s obviously now feeling good and wants to play, and I think we can all understand how he’d want to make up for lost time. The reports suggest that Wilshere and his agent have had talks with the club in recent days, and it seems likely that the press stories stem from that side, rather than the club. As we know Arsenal are usually quite reticent when it comes to discussing any kind of transfer business.
There’s talk of him going abroad, which would probably suit Arsenal better, but would Wilshere be prepared to do that? He has young kids, so that’d be a consideration. If he goes to a Premier League club there’d be no adaptation or anything like that, and ultimately if he can cope with the rigours of regular football in the division he plays in for us, then I suppose that would be a consequential benefit to us.
For all that though, I’d be disinclined to let this happen. For the first time in ages we have a central midfield deep with options and quality, and Wilshere is part of that. Right now he’s on the fringes, but that’s because of his fitness issues. My feeling would be that we should keep him, and let the competition of training and games sort out the pecking order over the next few months.
It’s not unknown for our midfielders to be hit by injury, and with Premier League, EFL Cup, and Champions League there’s plenty of football to go around. Come January, if he hasn’t forced his way into the manager’s reckoning then let both parties consider a loan move so he can play more regularly. Until then, however, he should keep his head down, prove he can stay fit, and fight for his place in this Arsenal team.
Elsewhere, it looks as if Calum Chambers is going to join Middlesbrough on loan. Reports yesterday said the two clubs had agreed a season long deal, and despite the fact I’d have liked to see him go abroad, this is a good chance for him to show what he can do.
Arsene Wenger insisted the other day the door was not closed on his Arsenal career after the signings of Rob Holding and the imminent arrival of Shkodran Mustafi. Nevertheless, it’s clear the manager harbours some doubts over him, so it’s down to Chambers to remind him why he paid Southampton £16m just two summers ago.
If he goes to Boro and it doesn’t work out, Wenger’s decision-making will be made easier. If Chambers goes there and develops well with regular football – remembering 21 is very young in the life of a central defender – then it’s win-win for Arsenal. It is all on him and how he performs though, so good luck to him if and when that goes through.
Today we’re expecting the official confirmation of the two new signings. Lucas Perez arrived in London yesterday, while Mustafi is on international duty, but after yesterday’s UK bank holiday everything should be done and dusted today, the paperwork admins are back in the office, so stand-by for the glut of stories that’ll produce.
On yesterday’s Arsecast Extra we discussed their arrivals, the timing of the transfers, what impact both players will have on the squad, and lots more. Listen below if you haven’t already.
Download – iTunes – Acast – RSS
Finally, check out this week’s Tactics Column, looking at the impact of Alexis and how Arsenal usually do well against teams playing three at the back.
We’ll have all the news throughout the day over on Arseblog News, the signings etc, so keep on us things there. Till tomorrow.
