Both Afobe and Wilshere joined the Arsenal Academy back in 2001, with Wilshere progressing through the youth ranks to make 160 appearances for the Gunners.
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Now, call that incredible foresight, call it spooky, or simply call it what it is, which is a lucky guess, it’s still a bit weird.
Bournemouth chief executive Neill Blake told his club’s official website: “Jack is a fantastic addition to the club”.
There were reportedly a number of Premier League and European clubs interested in the England global, including AC Milan, AS Roma, Sporting Lisbon and Benfica, but Bournemouth stole a march on their more illustrious rivals by paying the Gunners £2 million and committing to pay the entirety of his £100,000-per-week wages.
Incidentally, it was during a loan move to Bolton in 2010 that he established himself as a player of exceptional promise and after which he featured regularly for Arsenal and England.
England midfielder Jack Wilshere will seek to reignite his career away from Arsenal after agreeing a season-long loan move to Bournemouth.
And, after his representatives held meetings with Palace and Bournemouth on Tuesday, Wilshere made a decision to head to the south coast in order to revive his career.
The England midfielder opted to pursue regular first-team football on the south coast ahead of a number of clubs including Crystal Palace, Roma and AC Milan.
There was also a suggestion that Arsenal were unwilling to do business with Roma in particular after being given short shrift in their attempt to sign Kostas Manolas from the Serie A club earlier in the transfer window.
Wilshere failed to start any of the three Arsenal games this season, with Arsene Wenger preferring the likes of Granit Xhaka, Santi Cazorla, Aaron Ramsey, Francis Coquelin and Mohamed Elneny.
Bournemouth’s statement read: “AFC Bournemouth have agreed terms to sign Jack Wilshere on loan until the end of the season. I think he’ll get a good run in the team”.
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“Hopefully Benik spoke positively about us, well, I’m sure he did!” We’ll wait and see when he’ll play, hopefully as soon as possible but I don’t want to set any targets.
