Wilshere Baffled By Lack Of Interest In His Services

Earlier this month, the former Arsenal midfielder opened up on his frustrations in finding a new club after leaving Bournemouth in the summer.

Two weeks on, Wilshere is still a free agent and is still training on his own as he tries to maintain his fitness in his quest to find a new club.

“Today I was running around an athletics track and struggling to imagine I would be here at this point in my career,” Wilshere told The Athletic of his current situation.

“My kids are at an age where they understand. Especially Archie, who’s nine. He’s actually having conversations with me, saying, ‘What about the MLS?’ or ‘Why aren’t you playing in La Liga?’

“And it is difficult to explain to him. He’ll say to me, ‘How come no club wants you?’ I don’t know. But how do I explain that to him?

“When I go out, people recognise me. The most difficult part is trying to explain when they ask, ‘Well, why don’t you just sign for a club in England?’ I’m like, ‘Well, no one wants me’, and they can’t really get their head around it.”

Wilshere has endured injury problems throughout his career and made just 19 appearances in two years at West Ham United after leaving Arsenal in 2018.

But the 29-year-old made 17 appearances in all competitions and scored two goals after joining Bournemouth on a short-term contract in January although that was not enough to secure a permanent stay at the Vitality Stadium.

Wilshere insists his injury problems are now behind him and would not mind trying his luck in a different league.

He added: “I’ve said before that I’m open to going abroad. In fact, I probably want to go abroad. I want to try something different.

“Have a fresh start somewhere where people, clubs, fans don’t think, ‘Oh, that’s Jack Wilshere. He’s going to get injured today’, or, ‘He’ll play five games and that’s it… waste of an investment’.

“I feel a little bit like the door in this country has been shut on me. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because of the injury history and people getting references from places. I feel like that’s unfair.

“The last time I had an injury was in January 2020. Everyone thinks, ‘Oh, his ankle, his ankle’. It wasn’t my ankle. I had a hernia, which is a standard injury. It was a 10-day turnaround and then unfortunately lockdown came. But I built myself up and had a really good base of fitness.