- Arsenal target Rice played his last game for West Ham
- Arsenal weighing up summer swoop for Pedro Goncalves
- Arsenal told to offer £250k-a-week wage package to sign Rice
- Arsenal closing in on a deal to sign Sacha Boey this summer
- Pundit urges Rice to join Arsenal over Man Utd this summer
- Arsenal submit offer to sign Ilkay Gundogan this summer
- Arsenal told to pay £40m to sign Leicester star Maddison
- Arsenal open talks to sign Man City star Joao Cancelo
- Arsenal learn price tag of midfield target Gabri Veiga
- Arsenal ready to accelerate efforts to sign Rice this summer
“I Was Really Upset About Fabregas Leaving”
Jack Wilshere has revealed that he was “really upset” when Cesc Fabregas left Arsenal to re-join Barcelona in 2011.
The 21-year-old midfielder took part in a live Google Hangout with Arsenal fans today (you can watch a re-run of the entire thing here).
When asked which player he was most sad to see leave the club, Wilshere admitted that the Spaniard was the player he was most gutted to see go.
“I was really upset about Fabgregas leaving. I learned so much from just watching him. Like me he started at a young age.
He was the captain and you always went to him if you had a problem, so he was the one player I was most upset to see leave”
Of course it was disappointing to see Cesc leave but many Arsenal fans had already accepted he was going to return to the Nou Camp at some point. It was just a case of ‘when’ not ‘if’. He decided in 2011 that it was time to go home and he got his wish.
The funny thing is, Fabregas’s departure kind of opened the door for Wilshere to establish himself in the first team. Obviously Jack’s had his injury problems in the last couple of years but he’ll find first team football easier to come by with Fabregas no longer around.
Wilshere also recalled the time Arsene Wenger picked him out of the youth team to let him train with the first team squad as a 16-year-old and praised the boss for sticking by him.
When asked about how influential Wenger had been in his career, Wilshere said:
“[Wenger] gave me a chance when I was 16 and brought me into the first team. He picked me out and gave me that chance to train with the first team. He put his arm around me.
“Some games I didn’t play well but he still stuck with me, when you’re young you do make mistakes.”
It was an insightful Google Hangout, where Jack also revealed that he is most looking forward to playing with Mesut Ozil this season, and thinks Tom Cruise would be a good fit to play him in a film about his life!