Jack Wilshere has now admitted how disappointed he was when Arsenal sold one of his key teammates in the past.
Wilshere is now Arsenal’s under-18s manager having retired from football in 2022, having seen out his playing days in Denmark with Aarhus GF.
And although any disappointments in his career are normally all associated with the injuries he unfortunately suffered on a regular basis, that wasn’t the only frustrating factor he had to contend with at Arsenal.
Wilshere played for the club 197 times, scoring 14 goals and providing 30 assists.
And whilst he will have been pleased to lift two FA Cups during his time in north London, the former England international will have surely hoped for more.
Wilshere’s talent was cherished by Arsene Wenger, even if he may too regret not being able to use the midfielder on a more regular basis.
But Wilshere’s and Wenger’s time together at the club did coincide with a period when Arsenal were not at their most competitive.
And when recently speaking on the ‘Up Front with Simon Jordan’ podcast, Wilshere admitted he was ‘really hurt’ when Arsenal sold Robin van Persie back in 2012.
Jack Wilshere was gutted when Arsenal sold Robin van Persie to Man United
Wilshere explained that he understood the move from Van Persie’s perspective, the club weren’t going to compete for titles in the foreseeable future, but said it still left a sour taste.
He shared: “Yeah a little bit disappointed but also, again being really honest like thinking that’s probably the pathway that we were on, so we’d lost [Samir] Nasri, we’d lost [Emmanuel] Adebayor, we’d lost Cesc [Fabregas], Robin stayed for an extra year.
“He had an unbelievable year, I think he scored 30 goals, and I think he just knew and we knew that we weren’t going to challenge in the next few years.
“We’d obviously got a new stadium and all the pressures that brings.”
Wilshere was then asked about that fan backlash in regards to Van Persie leaving.
“I think that’s understandable. It was disappointing and it hurt and there were definitely conversations between players like what’s going on.”
Fortunately for Arsenal fans, there’s unlikely to be a repeat of Wilshere’s disappointment when Arsenal sold Van Persie for £24m in this modern era.
The club are now in a strong position to compete and also don’t have the financial strain that moving to the Emirates Stadium brought at the time.
There’s every reason for optimism under Mikel Arteta right now, even if Gerard Pique has been calling for the manager to come to Barcelona.
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