Wilshere’s time to shine?

Is Wilshere mousey-faced enough to fill Fabregas' boots?

With Arsenal almost certain to lose mousey-faced linchpin Cesc Fabregas to Barcelona this summer, the club and their supporters will hardly be buoyed by the news that mousey-faced reserve man Fran Merida is also heading back to Spain, and will be hot-footing it to the Vicente Calderon where he will be unveiled by Atletico Madrid on Friday.

This poses two questions. One, who will be the defunct mousey-faced member of the squad now, and two, will the departure of Merida and imminent departure of Fabregas, pave the way for Jack Wilshere to cement a regular place in Arsenal’s first XI?

The boring, and perhaps more likely answer would be a simple no, Wenger will buy a replacement for Fabregas, or move Samir Nasri into the middle, where he played on occasion last season. But for the purposes of a longer blog, we shall plump for the more interesting answer, yes, yes it will.

Wilshere, despite being only 18, has long been seen as a future Arsenal and England star. His ability to dribble, shoot and pick a pass that isn’t sideways or backwards makes him unusual for an English midfielder, especially one so young, and in that respect he has the potential to fill Fabregas’ shoes.

He has also shown he can cut it in the Premier League with his impressive performances on loan at Bolton last season. Kevin Davies though, somewhat unsurprisingly, said he was more impressed by Wilshere’s willingness to make a tackle, clearly showing where his priorities lie.

With the £30 million plus that Fabregas will bring in, there will be more than enough for Wenger to go out and buy a replacement for the Spainard, and at 18, being thrust into the Arsenal starting XI may be a season too soon for Wilshere. But Wenger has faith in his youngsters, and what better way to show this by giving Wilshere a starting berth next season.

If he does, some fans will, again, bemoan his lack of spending, but it could also be a big gamble that pays off.

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Tags: Arsenal, Cesc Fabregas, Fran Merida, Jack Wilshere

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