‘I feel his pain’: BBC pundit admits West Ham’s Deadline Day decision has hurt him

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Micah Richards has told BBC Radio 5 Live (05/10/20 at 8:50 pm) that he feels Jack Wilshere’s pain after he was let go by West Ham on Deadline Day.

Both parties mutually agreed to terminate his contract at the London Stadium and Richards believes it has got to a stage where managers no longer trust the midfielder.

Richards own career was ended early because of injury and he suffered his own tag of being this ‘injury-prone’ player – he only played once during the last 18 months of his Aston Villa career.

So when the news broke that Wilshere was leaving, Richards shared that he’s hurt by that news because he understands what the Arsenal academy graduate is going through.

“I think it gets to a stage where the manager doesn’t trust you,” Richards told BBC Radio 5 Live. “There was a period under Dean Smith & [Steve] Bruce where I was fit to play. But not fit enough for the standard that they wanted.

“I just think with Jack Wilshere that I don’t think that managers can trust him anymore and it’s sad because I don’t like to see that of any player.

“He’s only 28. We all know he’s got great ability. It’s there for all to see. He hasn’t managed to do it often enough. Unfortunate for him, injury has played a massive part.

“And I know the tone in the way I am voiced because I feel his pain. I feel when you have been hampered by so many injuries and you are trying to get back. You are trying to prove to people you can do it. And you are trying so hard that you’re trying too hard – I feel for him.”

It remains to be seen where Wilshere will now end up because the most crucial thing for him is to join a side that will provide him with game time.

If that means dropping down to the Championship then it will help revive a career that has been stagnating for far too long now.

From the young kid that dominated Barcelona in a Champions League match, it has been an unpleasant fall for a player that was tipped to be an England great by now.