On Friday afternoon, the folks over at Arseblog News said they understand part-time Valencia head coach Gary Neville had asked Arsenal if he could take Jack Wilshere on loan until the end of the season.
You can read the full Arseblog report on the situation here, it’s certainly an interesting one.
Manchester United legend and Sky Sports pundit Neville is currently in charge of Valencia until the end of the season, and he’s struggling. He has failed to win in six La Liga matches, and only managed a 1-1 draw at home against La Liga strugglers Las Palmas in a Copa Del Rey tie on Thursday.
In the summer Neville will resume his role with the England national team and will want Wilshere match fit, so should Arsenal have let him go?
Well, basically, no. I’m not the biggest Jack Wilshere fan, but he’s an exciting talent and one who can exert his influence over a game on his best days. Arsenal are still in three competitions and the games will continue to come thick and fast. Wilshere, just like everyone else at the club, will be needed at some point should we win the Premier League and hope to retain the FA Cup.
The midfielder has barely featured in the past 14 months, but Arsenal are already without Santi Cazorla in midfield and Aaron Ramsey has a history of picking up hamstring strains when overplayed. Mohamed Elneny is a new signing but an unproven player and a bit of an unknown quantity, while the fit again Tomas Rosicky is 35 years old and his fitness also can’t be relied on.
While La Liga is a less physical league than the Premier League, Wilshere has a tendency to overplay and back himself against the odds. It’s that nature of his play that has seen him pick up injuries in the past and means, even if he were to play in Spain, he will need to curb his style in order to avoid knocks.
It makes sense that Neville wanted Wilshere, especially with Euro 2016 coming up and his place in the Arsenal team far from guaranteed even if he gets fit, but it wouldn’t have been totally logical for the Gunners to release him. This time around, it seems that Wenger has made the right call.