Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has insisted that Jack Wilshere has nothing to prove in terms of his ability, but just needs to play regularly at Bournemouth to get back to his best. He has a real football brain and understands football. “You have that or you haven’t got it, but he is a real football man”, added Wenger.
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Intriguingly, any move for Howe would likely see Wenger move upstairs for a period of time as director of football, to give the new man time to bed in.
“I turn a blind eye to speculation”. “I think that will happen around December”, Wenger told the Mirror.
Howe secured one of the coups of the transfer window on deadline day in August, signing midfielder Wilshere on a season-long loan from the Gunners.
The Cherries are yet to win a game in the Premier League this season but Howe is not concerned about the performances of his team over the first three games despite believing this year will be tougher than their first in the top flight.
Nevertheless, the manager made a decision to let the 24-year-old midfielder leave for the season to gain as many minutes as possible on the pitch. He is not yet completely at his physical level. In this case, that’s what I try to do. “We have all been his age and wanted to play football but we didn’t have his talent”.
He added: “If he plays, he will play really well because he can not play badly”. It is very frustrating.
‘What is at stake for him, is just playing.
Although he faced stiff competition for places in the Gunners midfield, it was expected Wilshere would be in Wenger’s plans after an injury-free summer.
Asked about giving Wilshere a new contract, with his current deal having two years left to run, Wenger replied: “I want him to extend, yes”. He has a great footballing brain, and understands everything that is going on on the football pitch.
Wenger has primarily played Wilshere in a deeper central role or on the right flank recently, while former England manager Roy Hodgson used him as the base of a diamond midfield. Second of all, the England worldwide wanted to go to a team in which he was practically guaranteed a place in the starting XI week in and week out.
‘His main problem overall is being capable of playing every week.
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“If he plays, he will play really well. Because what you want above all is that a guy of his talent plays the football he can play”.
