Arsene Wenger has admitted that although Arsenal could probably do with having Jack Wilshere at the club right now, he doesn’t regret his decision to loan him out to Bournemouth.

The 25-year-old is currently having the time of his life with the Cherries. He’s staying fit, getting game time and getting noticed for the quality midfielder he is.

Meanwhile, back at Arsenal, Santi Cazorla is out until the year 2064 (probably), Mohamed Elneny is away with Eqypt at the Africa Cup of Nations and Francis Coquelin has just gone and injured his hamstring.

So, essentially, we’re down the Granit Xhaka and Aaron Ramsey in central midfield, which is fine… as long as both stay fit and… well… we’re Arsenal.

Speaking ahead of Arsenal’s FA Cup clash against Preston North End, Wenger admitted that that’s the risk you take when loaning out first team players.

“Yes, I could use Wilshere now,” Wenger said.

“What looks unfair at some moment in the season is that you know at some stage you could need the player. But even at the start you need to have the right balance between competition and numbers and chances for the player to play. And still today I think it was the right decision for him to go.”

As much as we joke about Arsenal’s injury problems, there’s no way Wenger could have foreseen how stretched our central midfield would become when he first allowed Wilshere to leave on loan.

All we can do now is weather the storm and hope for the best. Such is life as a Gooner.