Jack Wilshere looking to save his career after last season’s unsuccessful loan spell at Bournemouth
England and Arsenal glory days a world away as midfielder peers into Premier League life as someone in danger of becoming an outcast
NOBODY thought it would come to this. Not when it came to Jack.
There was a time when clubs would have been queuing around the block to sign Jack Wilshere from Arsenal.
A rarified talent, with the swagger of a superstar when the ball is at his feet, Wilshere was the coming man in English football.
Suddenly, at 25, he feels like an outsider, peering into life in the Premier League after an unsuccessful loan spell with Bournemouth last season.
Arsenal, the club who cherished him, nourished him and nurtured him, have moved on.
They contest the Community Shield at Wembley on Sunday and Wilshere is not expected to play a part in it.
He is still recovering from his latest injury but patience is wearing thin for the boy who came through the club’s fabled Hale End youth academy.
That year out, the 12 months he spent trying to save his international career, has done for him at Arsenal.
PREMIER LEAGUE TRANSFER NEWS
He returned injured, just as Arsene Wenger predicted when Wilshere made the fatal phone call last summer demanding to leave the Emirates.
He forced his way out because he feared he would slip down the pecking order with England. That suited Wilshere but did not wash with Wenger.
He tried to protect his international career instead of fighting for his place in Arsenal’s starting line-up.
Aaron Ramsey and Mohamed Elneny are decent enough players but they should not be scaring off a player with Wilshere’s class.
Bournemouth, whatever the attractions of playing for Eddie Howe’s side, was a bad move.
He barely made an impact, struggling to dominate or influence games in the way he used to do in the colours of Arsenal.
At times he was overwhelmed — as he was against champions Chelsea or in his last game for Bournemouth at Tottenham — in the centre of midfield.
Life as a top-level player seems to be passing him by.
As he continues his rehabilitation from the ankle injury sustained at White Hart Lane last season, he is in danger of becoming an Arsenal outcast.
He fears he will soon be part of the ‘Bomb Squad’, the small clutch of players who have no realistic prospect of forcing their way back into first-team plans.
Mathieu Debuchy and Carl Jenkinson are in that group, waiting for another club to rescue their careers.
Wilshere should never have been in that position.
At 67, Wenger has tired of his antics, despairing of the little boy who refused to grow up.
The comparisons with Xavi or Andres Iniesta, stretching back to his impressive performance against Barcelona in the Champions League six years ago, are in the dim and distant past.
Now it is about saving his career.
MOST READ IN FOOTBALL
There used to be a twinkle in Wenger’s eye whenever he was asked about Wilshere.
There was a belief that one day he would come good, that he would play a full season for Arsenal and prove he is among the very best in the country.
He overlooked his boorish behaviour after the FA Cup final victories over Hull and Aston Villa, when he tarnished the club’s reputation and damaged his own during the following day’s celebrations.
It is very different now. Arsenal, whatever their problems wrestling with the Premier League last season, won another FA Cup without him.
Wenger is moving forward, with his insatiable appetite to build his first title-winning side since 2004 taking precedence around the place.
Wilshere, once considered Arsenal through and through before he moved to Bournemouth, has never had that feeling of winning the title. Chances are, he never will.
Klopp's unShaw
LIVERPOOL were so desperate for a left-back before Andy Robertson’s arrival they made a bold move for Luke Shaw at Manchester United.
Although the two clubs have not done business since Phil Chisnall left Old Trafford for Anfield in 1964, Shaw’s position at United caught Jurgen Klopp’s attention.
Klopp relied on James Milner to fill the position last season after losing faith in Alberto Moreno.
Shaw was high on the list of Anfield targets but United are refusing to sell the £33million signing, especially to their bitter rivals.
Despite United’s reluctance to let Shaw start over again, his position under Jose Mourinho remains vulnerable.
And the one-time England star fears he will never become a first-team regular under Mourinho.
Vic yet to click
VICTOR LINDELOF has had a mixed start to Manchester United’s pre-season — but it has come as no surprise to Sweden’s coaching staff.
Despite Lindelof’s hefty £31million transfer, there are huge reservations about his quality within his international set-up.
United boss Jose Mourinho is urging caution as the defender settles into his new club. But there will be no hiding place in Tuesday’s Super Cup final against Real Madrid.
ONE of the highlights of Mark Sampson’s side’s run to the semi-final of Euro 2017 is the level of respect shown between fans for the national anthems.
Instead of the boos that drown out the anthems of virtually every nation England meet in men’s football, the women’s sport sets a far better example before matches with a dignified silence for the opposition.
