Jack Wilshere left West Ham on deadline day after his contract was terminated. The Englishman, however, has not had to wait long to find a new club.
The 28-year-old was one of West Ham’s highest earners before his contract termination. At almost £100,000 per week, Jack Wilshere was not pulling his weight. This was down to a few factors, one being Wilshere’s injury record. Since joining from Arsenal much of the player’s time has been spent on the sidelines.
The other reason is the lack of game time when he has been fit. Wilshere rarely impressed when he did play and fell in the pecking order and was firmly behind Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek by the end.
Wilshere did make a statement when the news was announced that he would be leaving the club. In his statement, he argues that he has been “fully fit for the last eight months” and that he was “not given the opportunity play”.
— Jack Wilshere (@JackWilshere) October 5, 2020
That might be the case, but a lot of time in those last eight months has seen little football actually be played. Over three months of the timeframe, Wilshere speaks of was spent in lockdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Then there was another almost two-month break between the end of last season and the start of the current one.
Wilshere’s frustrations are understandable. But the games that have been played in the last eight months have been crucial for West Ham, and the club needed the best team possible. The Hammers were in the midst of a relegation battle and a horrible fixture list to start the new campaign.
The best team the Hammers have does not include Wilshere in the starting eleven. Sorry to say it. If David Moyes had started picking Wilshere to play over Rice or Soucek people would have been calling for his head.
The comments should also be taken with a pinch of salt. No club would be interested in signing him if his statement read, “In my two years at West Ham I have only made 16 appearances because I have suffered repeated injuries. But there was that time I hid in a washing machine, so that was good”. Not many teams would be rushing to sign him.
It appears his statement has worked as he is reportedly close to signing for Rangers and will link-up with former England teammate, Steven Gerrard. West Ham, on the other hand, needs to dip into the Championship to strengthen before the domestic window shuts in nine days.