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Arsene Wenger challenges Jack Wilshere to prove his worth but hints Arsenal exit is a possibility

The 25-year-old is yet another Arsenal player in the final year of his current deal

Miguel Delaney
Chief Football Writer
Thursday 24 August 2017 22:31 BST
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Jack Wilshere has fallen out of favour at Arsenal and spent last season on loan at Bournemouth
Jack Wilshere has fallen out of favour at Arsenal and spent last season on loan at Bournemouth

Arsene Wenger has challenged Jack Wilshere to prove he deserves a new contract at Arsenal by getting “back to his best” - but also admitted it may not be at the Emirates this season and that a loan is possible as he “cannot guarantee” playing time.

The 25-year-old is yet another Arsenal player in the final year of his current deal, but the manager was not as strident on his future as he has been with Mesut Ozil, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain or Alexis Sanchez.

With Wilshere having already fallen out of favour and spent last season on loan at Bournemouth, Wenger admitted that he is “open” to the idea of sending him out on a temporary deal again before the window closes. It will be then up to the midfielder to show he still deserves a place at Arsenal.

Directly asked whether he would offer Wilshere a new contract, Wenger said: “If he gets back to his best and wants to stay, we have to sit down, I think, later in the season. I don’t rule that.”

It was then put to Wenger whether he was also ruling out a loan deal for Wilshere, but he denied that.

“I’m open, you know, with Jack. We have honest conversations. I’m open to what is the best for him. He is at the stage of his career where he needs to play and I cannot guarantee him today that, and I think I’m quite open on that.”

Wenger did somewhat defend Wilshere from the criticism he received this week for a red card against Manchester City in an under-23 match. The midfielder had been sent off for angrily reacting to a rash Tyreke Wilson challenge, who was also dismissed, but the manager said he could “understand” a “human reaction” due to the player's injury history and the fear of being put on the sidelines again.

“At my stage and with my experience in football, I can understand a lot - especially what happened to him. Ideally he should not have responded at all but when you have gone through what he has gone through, with bad tackles, it was a human reaction. At the moment he is working very hard to come back after his fracture so overall another setback would be terrible and it was a bad tackle.”

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