Wenger gives honest assessment of Wilshere’s Arsenal future

Arsene Wenger insists it is not too late for Jack Wilshere to save his Arsenal career  – but insists the next three months will be vital to his future.

Wilshere spent last season on loan at Bournemouth and has been restricted to cup appearances for the Gunners so far, having appeared in both the Europa League and Carabao Cup so far this campaign.

With the midfielder out of contract next summer, the player still hopes to earn a new deal at the club and discussing his future, Wenger told beIN Sports: “It’s a vital season because he’s nearing the end of his contract, it’s a World Cup year and he has been an Arsenal player since he was a kid, so all that’s at stake for him and for us as well because you’d love a player like him of that quality to come back.”

Wenger knows a large factor in Wilshere’s struggles has been his injury record and the Gunners boss continued: “Jack Wilshere struggled historically with repeated injuries and no one could question his talent, nobody would question his exceptional ability to beat people with the ball.

“But in this job you need to have health. The requests and demands of the competition, physically, are so high and you can only be at your best if you can play at least 10 games on the trot. That’s what’s at stake for Jack Wilshere.

“He needs to keep his health and be capable of competing. If he can play from now until December at the top level, he will be back. If he has other set-backs then it will be more difficult.

“In fact he had a very good game in BATE Borisov, especially a brilliant first half where he was back to his best, so he’s not far away now. Let’s hope in the next two or three weeks he can play regularly in the first team.”