by Nia Griffiths

Jack Wilshere is keen to dampen down rumours that he might be leaving Arsenal.

If the rumour mill is to be believed (and it usually isn’t) Manchester City have reportedly been lining up a £30m bid for Wilshere, amid unsubstantiated claims that the midfielder is unhappy with the Gunners. Wilshere has spoken out against these, making it clear where his loyalties lie.

Speaking ahead of England’s European Championship qualifier against Slovenia on Sunday, the 23-year-old said, “I definitely wouldn’t go somewhere just because I’m a homegrown player. I’d want to be wanted by a club. I want to be wanted by Arsenal.”

Adding, “I’ve grown up at Arsenal, I’m a homegrown player and, as long as Arsenal want me, then I’m happy.

The theory behind the rumours is that Wilshere wasn’t satisfied with the amount of playing time he was getting at Arsenal, which makes absolutely no sense considering he’s only just returning from injury. It’s hard to believe the situation would be different elsewhere, especially in a squad as huge as Man City’s.

Arsene Wenger has now learnt not to rush players back and rehabilitating them fully before launching them back into matches is imperative to sustained fitness. We now have the squad size to allow us to do this and not panic (as much) every time one of our first team hobbles off or suffer another ‘set back‘.

Wilshere will realise this and the claims he could be off are, as he’s now made clear, ridiculous.