Jack Wilshere: My loan move from Arsenal and Joe Hart’s Torino switch can provide an ‘inspiration for England players’

Free Lions | Wilshere and Hart both went out on loan during the summer transfer window
Alex Morton/Getty Images
Simon Johnson9 November 2016

Jack Wilshere believes the time has come for the loan system to be seen in a more positive light in this country.

Normally, the sight of a senior player leaving his club to get games elsewhere is met with a wave of negativity.

Loan moves are often regarded as a sign that the individual is in decline. There are rarely positive headlines about them — and that was the case for Wilshere and Joe Hart this season.

Hart left for Torino after being demoted to third-choice goalkeeper at Manchester City. Wilshere also felt the need to depart his beloved Arsenal on a season’s loan to Bournemouth after his chances of first-team football diminished following the summer signing of Granit Xhaka.

The moves to low-profile clubs was greeted in some circles with even more of a sneer and concern that two experienced England internationals could not find anything better.

And yet, as England prepare to face Scotland in a World Cup qualifier on Friday, both men have reported for duty re-energised and looking full of self-belief again.

Wilshere told Standard Sport: “There are different reasons for going on loan. For Joe it was quite simple, he wasn’t playing. He’s the type of character that wants to play. He could have easily stayed at Manchester City and picked up his wages. He is not like that, he wants to be playing and improve.

“It was different for me, I wanted to prove my fitness to everyone. I hadn’t played football regularly in a long while [Wilshere was ruled out for most of last season with a leg injury] and I missed that feeling of going out on the pitch and playing in the Premier League.

“Of course, some loans are seen differently. For example, when I went on loan to Bolton as a youngster, it was more of a development thing.

“But the way football is going now, there are going to be a lot more loans where it’s not about development, it’s about the player wanting to play or because someone has fallen out of favour at their club.”

The topic is timely after events at Manchester United over the past few days. England internationals Chris Smalling and Luke Shaw were criticised by Jose Mourinho for a perceived unwillingness to play through the barrier at Swansea on Sunday.

The duo, who were subsequently left out of the England squad over a lack of fitness, now face uncertain futures at Old Trafford.

Should they be frozen out by Mourinho and not play club football on a regular basis, then it is unlikely they will be considered for England.

It therefore raises the possibility that Shaw and Smalling may be put in a position where they, too, might have to consider a loan in the new year.

While not speaking specifically about the duo, Wilshere believes he and Hart have shown players in the England reckoning that making such a move elsewhere can bring positive results. He added: “Going out on loan has been no barrier to Joe and I getting in the

England in training

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England squad and that’s credit to the manager [Gareth Southgate] and the way England is.

“It shows no matter where you are, they give you a chance if you’re playing well. That should be an inspiration for England players.

“When Joe went to Italy, it was almost like people were thinking he’d go there and be forgotten about.

“But for me he was our best player in the last England game, against

Slovakia [0-0 draw], and he just shows that if you’re playing and improving, then you will be in the squad.

“People were always going to look negatively at the loans I and Joe did because that’s the way it was. I wasn’t going to play at Arsenal, he wasn’t going to play for City.

“But it says a lot about our characters. I could have sat at Arsenal on the bench coming on now and then but I wouldn’t have been involved in the England squad. I could have had a few days off during the international break.

“But we both felt differently to that. We wanted to go elsewhere and show we still had something to offer at the highest level and in this England team.”

The last time Wilshere was involved in the England squad was at Euro 2016, where his lack of match fitness was clearly a hindrance. It has been suggested that after just eight appearances for Bournemouth, it is still too early for him to earn a recall. Southgate thought otherwise, although he needed a replacement for the injured Dele Alli, anyway.

Wilshere, who bossed midfield when England beat Scotland 3-1 in a friendly three years ago, feels he is in the right shape mentally and physically to make an impact.

You can follow Friday night's match between England and Scotland live on Standard Sport. Click here to find out how.

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