Arsenal: Santi Cazorla ‘agony’ redirects to Jack Wilshere excitement

Arsenal won’t be welcoming back Santi Cazorla until, at the earliest, 2018, but that’s okay, because there is still gold to be found with Jack Wilshere.

Arsenal’s 25 man roster has one big story that everyone can’t seem to get over. Santi Cazorla is not there. And since he is certainly not on the U21 side of things, that means that the crafty Spaniard can’t feature until January 2018 at the earliest.

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Cazorla became such a big piece of the Arsenal puzzle when he moved to become that midfield pivot and the Gunners haven’t been able to pinpoint a long-term replacement ever since. They have sold potential in-house solutions like Jon Toral and have avoided signing similar players like Jean-Michael Seri.

Frankly, I’ve gotten over Cazorla’s absence. He’s been gone for the better part of two years and I highly doubt that when he returns, he will be of much use, as the team has moved on without him. Even despite the set backs, I think it best to put our hopes in someone else.

It’s dangerous, very dangerous, but my answer to this is (and has been) Jack Wilshere. Rather than moan and groan about the continued absence of someone we’ve been missing for ages, let’s redirect that sudden resurgence of passion into someone who has also been missing for ages, but who is actually available.

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Wilshere has always seemed like the perfect Cazorla heir, all he’s needed to do is stay healthy, which, of course, is much easier said than done. But for the time being, Wilshere looks to be in the best shape he has been in, he has spoken about his fire being back and he is already griping about not being able to get any game time.

That’s the kind of person we should be thrilled to have back. Someone who wants to play.

Cazorla is no doubt a huge miss. We can’t ignore that fact. But it’s been reality for awhile now and many have accepted that he may well have played his last for the Gunners, as no one can seem to figure out when he will be healthy again.

Wilshere, on the other hand, is 25. He is plagued by injuries, sure, but it’s easier to look forward than it is to look back. Or, for that matter, to wait.

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Clearly Wenger believes in Wilshere, because he had no desire to find any other midfielders in the transfer window. To me, that’s just another reason to be excited about it.