Arsene Wenger has claimed that midfielder Jack Wilshere has a big future ahead of him at Arsenal and that he will be offered a new long-term contract. Wilshere signed for AFC Bournemouth on the transfer deadline day, but despite his loan move, the negotiations for his contract will begin in December.
Wenger admitted the 24-year-old moved because of the lack of opportunities he had to break into the first team, due to the injuries. Wilshere has also been left out of new coach Sam Allardyce's squad for the Three Lions and Wenger says he expects Wilshere to return stronger for Arsenal, claiming the possibility of the England international stepping into his shoes as Arsenal coach.
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The Gunners boss said: “I always try to combine the interests of the club and the interests of the player. In this case, that’s what I have tried to do. Sometimes it doesn’t always come out as you want it to. But he is a real Arsenal man as well.
“He can be a captain here. I want him to extend his contract, yes. I think that will happen around December. I let him go for health reasons. But he is an ambitious guy. We have all been his age and wanted to play football but we didn’t have his talent.
“You imagine what he must feel like when he cannot play with everything he can do. It is very frustrating. What is at stake for him, is just playing. He is not yet completely at his physical level. If you look at the number of games he has played recently in the last six months, you cannot be at the competitive level he wants to be.
“He’s a world-class player and he doesn’t have to show me that he has the quality to play at Bournemouth, just that he comes back to a regular competitive level. If he plays, he will play really well because he cannot play badly. What you want more than anything is for a player with his talent to play.
"In a selfish way, you want him to play for your club but there is a bigger perspective, you want him to play and express his talent.”
Wenger now has a huge selection headache as Arsenal host the Saints at the Emirates today followed by a trip to France to face Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Tuesday. Wenger is also aware of Southampton manager Claude Puel as the Saints boss previously played under Wenger at Monaco.
But despite many first team players facing injuries, new signings Shkodran Mustafi and Lucas Perez could make their first-team debuts.
