Arsene Wenger didn’t have much to say about Jack Wilshere’s future at Arsenal during his pre-Milan presser but what he did say told us a few things.
“On my side nothing has changed,” Wenger said on Wednesday afternoon. “What are the chances of him staying? I don’t know.
“Jack will be free at the end of this season.
“We make a proposal to him. I want him to stay and to be linked with the club for the future. That’s my desire, I hope he will do it.”
3Wenger wants him to stay
Regardless of Wenger’s tone, I do believe him when he says he hopes Wilshere will stay at Arsenal because he’s been saying it for years.
There’s a reason the Arsenal players tease the midfielder about Wenger being like his dad.
Although Wenger would never openly admit to having favourites, Wilshere’s definitely one of them.
“I see him [as a possible captain] because he’s an Arsenal man. He was here at the age of 10. Not only because he was here for a long time, but he has some leadership qualities, he has a football brain, he is completely focused on Arsenal,” Wenger said in January.
“The fact that he has been away [on loan], he comes back, he realises as well that life is not so bad here maybe. And that is something that is important, that he can be one of the leaders of the future.”
The Frenchman has stood by the player through his injury problems and he understands what having a true ‘Gunner’ at the club means to the fans.
Loyalty doesn’t mean much in modern football but Wenger remembers when it did. He knows that Wilshere leaving because he’s perhaps getting a bit too big for his boots now that he’s finally fit would be a mistake.