Arsenal injury crisis does not mean Arsene Wenger got Jack Wilshere loan wrong

Arsenal have a midfield crisis at present with a host of players unavailable. However, pointing to Jack Wilshere on loan at Bournemouth is not the answer.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has an injury dilemma on his hands. The latest Gunners midfielder to be ruled out being Aaron Ramsey. The Welshman has a calf injury and is set to be out for around three weeks.

In addition to Ramsey, Wenger is already without Santi Cazorla through injury, Granit Xhaka through suspension and Mohamed Elneny is away at the Africa Cup of Nations with Egypt. Francis Coquelin is the club’s only fit senior midfielder.

So it is only natural for people to now be looking towards Jack Wilshere at Bournemouth and wondering why he is there and not in North London. However, this an idealistic point of view. In hindsight, it would be good for Wenger to have a fit Wilshere in the squad. Clearly.

But that’s a short-term view for a short-term situation. Wenger needs to find a way around the next few weeks. Then Xhaka will be back from suspension and Elneny will return from international duty. Ramsey, too, will be working towards fitness.

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Wilshere went out on loan because his career was stalling. Now it seems to be up and running again. That’s a good thing for Arsenal. If Wilshere was still at the club, he wouldn’t be playing as much and returning to the player he was in the past.

He would be sat on Arsenal’s bench, just waiting for a three-week spell like this where he was needed. Wilshere has had injury issues himself in the past, so there is no guarantee he would even be fit.

The Englishman has played 18 games this season for the Cherries. That’s a marked improvement on the 25-year-old’s fitness record of recent years. But the reason for that improvement is likely to be because he is playing regularly and staying match fit. Staying sharp.

Not sitting on the bench and making the odd substitute appearance, coming on cold from the bench. Arsenal will get a better Jack Wilshere back in the summer than the one they sent out to Bournemouth the year prior.

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The decision by Wenger to loan Wilshere out has already been vindicated. Just because the Arsenal boss is suddenly short for midfielders doesn’t mean he made the wrong decision. Would it be nice for Wenger to have a fit Wilshere for three weeks now? Sure.

But that’s the Wilshere you see now at Bournemouth. And that Wilshere is a different proposition to the one who sat in the cold shadows at Arsenal.

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