Jack Wilshere says he dreams of being Arsenal captain one day, despite spending last season wondering whether he’d ever play for the club again.

The England midfielder captained the side from the start on Wednesday for the first time. He says it was a day he’d always hoped would come, and now he’s aiming to get the role permanently.

“I want to be Arsenal captain,” Wilshere told Sky Sports.

“I really enjoyed the other night. It was my first start as captain and walking the boys out was a special feeling for me and my family so that is something that I want to do. I never really stopped dreaming about that.”

“There was a time last year when Arsenal were playing against Bournemouth at the Vitality. I sat in the crowd watching and thinking ‘am I going to go back to Arsenal and play?’ But apart from that, I never really thought about not becoming the player everyone thought I would be or not fulfilling my potential.”

Now, Wilshere is back in the Arsenal team, and heading back to the Vitality Stadium to face Bournemouth on Sunday. His future is still up in the air though, as he’s yet to agree a new contract. His current deal expires at the end of the season.

The 26-year-old stayed tight-lipped on the status of negotiations, saying he’s focusing on his performances. He only hinted that there might be some progress in a couple of weeks.

“There’s not a decision to make in January,” Wilshere claimed. “I’ve still got six months left of my contract. I’m an Arsenal player and I’m enjoying playing week in, week out. I’ve had loads of questions about my future and there’s nothing more I can say until something’s official and we can concentrate on the future. But right now, I’m concentrating on each game as it comes.

“We’re not waiting for anything really. Maybe the right time when there’s a little break in the fixtures – which there’s not. But I’m sure in a couple of weeks, something will get done or the boss will say something and we’ll go from there.”

Back to that trip to Bournemouth on Sunday, Wilshere was almost ruled out of the match with injury. The ball caught his foot awkwardly in the Chelsea match and the midfielder ended his match early. The Hale End graduate admits he was nervous about another serious injury, but it all turned out fine.

“After the game [against Chelsea], I was a little bit nervous and a little bit sore. I’ve been in this position before but I thought to myself ‘I’m due a bit of good luck here’.

“It felt similar to what I did last year at Bournemouth and that turned out to be a small fracture but going home, I knew it wasn’t that bad because the pain wasn’t too bad.

“I woke up in the morning and had a scan and felt a lot better. Then I was walking around with no pain and the scan came back clear. I stretched a ligament so I’ve got some discomfort in there but I trained today [Friday] and I’m positive for the weekend.

“Obviously I want to go back down to Bournemouth and see the boys and play against them so I’m positive.”

Hopefully now Wilshere can stay fit, sign that contract, and achieve his captaincy dreams with Arsenal.