West Ham United are set to give Jack Wilshere another chance.
The Daily Star has reported that David Moyes is set to build around a British core next season and they claim that involves key roles for current loanees Josh Cullen and Grady Diangana, at Charlton Athletic and West Bromwich Albion respectively, and Wilshere.
The latter is the problem.
The former Arsenal man joined the club in 2018. He signed a three-year deal and, per Spotrac, is earning £100,000-per-week.
He has played a total of 16 games for the club and has been on the winning side three times. It should be no surprise that he is currently injured.
It means that he has cost the club a total of £7.7m in wages, a figure which actually dwarfs his Transfermarkt value; that stands at £5.4m.
Wilshere hasn’t been a reliable asset at any point of his career.
Indeed, he last completed over 30 games in a single campaign in 2010/11 for Arsenal. He came closest during a loan spell with AFC Bournemouth, playing 27 times in 16/17.
Since his move to West Ham he has been nothing short of a leech, sucking his wages out of the club without putting in the requisite work to earn the pay cheque.
He is a hack, a player who continues to live off of one glorious night in the Champions League against Barcelona. That was 2011. He was 19.
Nine years have passed and he hasn’t surpassed it. He remains a decent midfielder with an eye for a pass; there isn’t a lot more to him. His lack of tackling ability is often mistaken for a hard-edged style. He just can’t time his interventions properly.
His contract is up in 2021 and, at this point, the Hammers should be looking to receive a fee for his services.
He is 28, should be at his peak, and has played 34 times for England. Whatever one may think of him, he has some pedigree, too, given his exploits for Arsenal.
The idea of building around him, though, is a fallacy.
Did he really play for us?! No West Ham fan has managed to name all of these obscure Irons signings....
He hasn’t completed 90 minutes in the Premier League since 2018, let alone a full season.
Wilshere simply can’t be trusted; Moyes should be selling up as soon as possible, and he should put the idea of making him a key lieutenant behind him.