Arsenal: Jack Wilshere must learn from the ghost of Alexander Hleb’s past

Arsenal and Jack Wilshere are stuck in a stalemate, but it is fully up ti Wilshere and, that being the case, he should take a note from Alexander Hleb.

Back in the summer of 2008 a certain Arsenal Belarusian, after having played the best footballing years of his career, completed a £12million move to Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona. Having finished as runners up to Barcelona in 2006, few could have blamed him for choosing to join a side which would go on to dominate the footballing world for the next four years and rightfully so.

After three beautiful years for the Gunners in a team which nearly won an historic Champions League trophy, Alexander Helb at that time described the move to Camp Nou as a dream come true for a team that he loves very much. Yet what usually would have felt like a dream ended in tears and a disaster barely a year on from there, with him not even being included in the Champions League final of 2009.

Initially having struggled to adjust to life in London, Helb gradually went on develop himself as a typically key Arsenal attacking midfielder, partly due to sublime ability to stay on his feet irrespective of the unfamiliar physicality of the Premier League. His tireless work ethic and ability to unlock innumerable defenses had quickly gone on to establish him as a fan favorite during his relatively short stint at the club.

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Its no surprise as to why Wenger tried so staunchly to persuade the Belarusian from leaving that year. Spoken by the player himself, Helb had revealed as to how excruciatingly difficult it was for him to leave with the manager texting and pleading with him not to leave.

A long term contract in place, fans appreciation all around, a manager who appreciates your talents and teammates who deeply value your presence, Helb had it all and yet chose to leave and ultimately watched his career move in a downward spiral ever since.

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First part sounds familiar? Well in our present-day scenario the likes of Nasri, Song, Helb, Van Persie, Clichy, Sagna no longer exist in our team yet the two things equivocally familiar about their departures were their career trajectories a few years down the line and the effort and ambiance in place for them to stay. Something that now Jack Wilshere has and should serve to learn from rather than follow on their trudged path.

Jack Wilshere has it all. He has a manager that appreciates his talents and believes in bringing out the best in him. He has team mates who value his presence and know the difference that he can make on the pitch. He has a fan base which has vehemently supported the player and cherished him despite his long standing and world famous struggles with injuries.

Lastly, he has a long term contract right there in front of him signifying the club’s intention in trusting him with the future. Even though the format and stipulations of the contract might not exactly be what he had hoped for it is still a huge show of appreciation and belief from the club to a player who has lost close to 1050 days to date with injuries since making his senior debut in 2010.

Wenger has long been an admirer of Wilshere’s talents and his heritage and has always wanted him to remain at the club and become the future of Arsenal FC. The kind of faith and trust that Wenger has in him is what makes players like Helb so deeply regretful about their decision to leave the club despite being in the same position and ecosystem once upon a time.

Give them a chance and they would pay anything to move back in time and revert their decisions any day. Read any interview that these players give now that are matured and have seen the world and you will realize how abject and utterly sad they are about their decision to move on from the club which gave them everything.

This is where Jack Wilshere is standing today; at a point where he can choose to move out the door in a couple of months and then come back ten years from now to ruefully tell the story of how different his life would have been had he just stayed.

Or, instead, choose to buckle up, realize the importance of where he is and how deeply valued he is by those around him, embrace the manager’s faith in him and force the club into giving him a better contract in the next couple of years with his performances and leadership on the pitch.

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For now the ball is in his court and, for our part, all we can do is hope that at least this player learns from the mistakes of those before him and the ghosts of their pasts before realizing exactly how green the grass on the other side is.