Arsenal youngster Jack Wilshere believes it is vital that Cesc Fabregas does not leave the club for Barcelona this summer.
The Gunners captain is constantly being linked with a return to his hometown club, and is rumoured to be unhappy at the Emirates.
Wilshere understands Fabregas wanting to play for the club he supported as a boy, but also believes he is happy at Arsenal, and too important to let go.
He explained: “He’s been over in England eight years, but Barcelona is his home. It’s hard for him so I can understand where he’s coming from.
“But he’s the Arsenal captain and he’s been great this season and we hope he can be great next season.
“In some of our games he has been our best player by a mile, and we need to keep our best players if we want to win things. He likes Arsenal, and I’m sure he wants to be at Arsenal. If they can reach an agreement then I’m sure he’ll want to stay. He needs to stay.”
While Barcelona have just won the Champions League for the second time in three years, Arsenal remain trophyless, which is said to be frustrating Fabregas.
However, Wilshere believes there is potential at Arsenal to win things, and that they weren’t so far away from doing so this year.
He added: “If nobody watched Arsenal play and saw they finished fourth with no trophies, then everyone would say it’s a bad season.
“But look at some of the games — you don’t beat Barcelona every week. So we can take some positives. We were so close against Birmingham to winning a trophy and then we lost in the last minute.”
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