Jack Wilshere is an interesting player. The 23-year-old broke into the Arsenal first team in 2008 when he was only 16, becoming Arsenal's youngest-ever league debutante.

Since then the English midfielder has won many accolades, such as the PFA Young Player of the Year in 2011, and Wilshere was included in the PFA Team of the Season in the same year. Wilshere’s talents are clearly visible, his ability to take on and dribble past players with ease and pick out a player with an inch perfect pass is incredible for someone who is only 23.

However, what do most football fans think of Jack Wilshere? They think of two things. Smoking, and injuries. The media has blasted Wilshere in recent times for two separate smoking incidents, and Jack Wilshere is also one of the most injury prone players in the Arsenal side, missing over 119 weeks worth of football due to injury. Rumours have only recently been coming out saying that Manchester City are interested in the Arsenal midfielder, and that the current Premier League champions are willing to place a £30 million bid for the player. Should this deal actually happen, would selling Jack Wilshere damage Arsenal?

When Wilshere is 100% fit, he is one of the most valuable players in the Arsenal starting XI, however Arsenal have countless players in the centre of midfield (Aaron Ramsey, Santi Cazorla and Francis Coquelin to name a few) meaning that having Wilshere absent is not a huge deal considering the amount of options Arsenal have in that position. Another perspective to take into account is that when Wilshere is fit, it’s not a matter of how well he performs or how consistent Wilshere is, but its more of a matter of how long will the midfielder be fit for, before he suffers another injury setback.

When you have these problems inside a club the size of Arsenal, it’s a very unhealthy bug to have. Jack Wilshere has the potential to become one of the best central midfielders in Europe, and the England international could be set to become the future captain of Arsenal and England. However, when you’re spending more time on the recovery table than on the football pitch, you know something has to be done.

Is selling Wilshere the cure to the bug? Not entirely. For one, Arsene Wenger has said many times over the years in interviews and press conferences that he has his upmost faith in Wilshere, meaning that it will take something dramatic for Wenger to even consider selling the youngster. Another factor to take into consideration is that despite having an overflowing midfield, most of these players have passed their prime (Such as Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini). Less competition in the squad would mean more playing time for Wilshere.

Whatever happens to Jack Wilshere in the future we are yet to find out, but the thought of Jack Wilshere at another team is a sight no one would had expected.

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About the author
Dylan Walsh
Student at the University of Brighton, 20-years-old, Twitter: @dylanwalsh_