West Ham United’s Jack Wilshere spoke on BBC’s 606 Savage Social podcast about what left him devastated at Arsenal eight years ago.
The Englishman spent over 10 years with the Gunners, coming through the ranks to become a regular with the first team.
Wilshere’s Arsenal career was hampered with injuries and he was eventually allowed to leave for free in the summer of 2018.
The midfielder won two FA Cups with Arsenal, but he recalled the moment when he felt that the Gunners were ready to fight for the title.
However, that dream was crushed as the Gunners allowed their skipper, Robin van Perise, to join Manchester United back in 2012.
“I was devastated. He had just scored 30 goals the season before. He (van Persie) was our captain. It felt like we were just about to challenge [for the title] again and all of a sudden he left to go to our biggest rivals,” said Wilshere.
He continued: “It was difficult to take. I was there when Fabregas left, [Samir] Nasri left, big players. If we had kept that team together I think we would have gone on to win the Premier League – and who knows from there?”
Arsenal’s management of players’ contracts have been terrible in the past. Van Persie was allowed to enter the final year of his contract, which gave him all the leverage he needed to force a move to Old Trafford.
The Gunners still seem to have not learnt their lesson. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is in that exact situation, and him joining one of Arsenal’s rivals this summer could hurt them a lot more than van Persie’s move did all those years ago.
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