Arsenal: Jack Wilshere exit “hurt” almost exclusively on emotional level

Arsenal’s situation with Jack Wilshere is a lot murkier than it should be, but considering a potential exit, the hurt is almost exclusively emotional.

You don’t get much more Arsenal than Jack Wilshere. Raised at the club from a young age, Wilshere has embodied all the hopes and dreams of the club and its fans. And, like the club, it has gone terribly wrong. Injuries and inconsistencies have ravaged Wilshere’s career, same as they have the club as a whole during his time with the club.

But given how purely Arsenal he is, you’ll find few people wishing him to leave. I’m among the multitude asking for him to sign a new deal. However, for the first time in awhile, I stopped to consider why I wanted him to stay so bad and the majority of it was just because, as a lover of Arsenal, I want him at the club.

He is the embodiment of this club after all. He has a fighting mentality that endears himself to fans and he has been outspoken in his appreciation and dedication to the club, even as it falters and struggles to compete for major silverware.

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That said, I wonder if it is the same for most other fans. I’m not saying it is wrong, after all, I wanted Olivier Giroud to stay 100% and my No. 1 reason was because I just liked him so damn much. There were skill-related reasons that followed, but at the top of the list was an emotional reason.

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Is Wilshere the same?

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Consider what he brings on the pitch. He is that midfield pivot a-la Santi Cazorla. I think that is the best classification to throw at him. But even still, he hasn’t mastered that role quite like the Spaniard and, injury permitting, it still might take some time to master it.

He doesn’t score many goals or provide many assists. Not compared to other midfielders on the team, at least, namely Aaron Ramsey, who is entering his own contract dilemma.

He isn’t the defensive midfielder that we crave and that Granit Xhaka may or may not be becoming.

Wilshere is a talented player with the ability to split defenses wide open, but is he irreplaceable, strictly basing that question on skills alone? Absolutely not. In fact, I think you’d find plenty of midfielders that can do what he does on the pitch, perhaps even better and more consistently without as much risk of injury.

Which is where I draw a bit of concern. Emotional attachments to players seem to be out the window. Giroud and Theo Walcott, two of Arsene Wenger’s favorites, were sold off as soon as the transfer world was supposedly out of Wenger’s hands.

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Wilshere is on a different level, given his upbringing with the club. But I do hope that he can start proving himself a bit more on the pitch to help ward off any lingering questions over whether the emotional attachment is strong enough anymore.