Does Jamie Redknapp have a point?
The Sky Sports pundit marked the occasion of Jack Wilshere’s first 90-minute performance in over two years by telling the midfielder, currently on-loan at Bournemouth, that he should make it his business to leave parent club Arsenal.
“I don’t see a future at Arsenal any more, I think now he will realise he has got to get away from Arsenal,” Redknapp said on TV coverage of Bournemouth’s goalless draw with Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday afternoon.
“It’s too comfortable for him there. He is not going to get into the team at Arsenal regularly.”
The former Liverpool captain also praised the 24-year-old’s performance and urged him to set his sights higher than Bournemouth when, and if, he leaves Arsenal, the club he joined when he was nine-years-old and made 159 appearances for.
“If he makes that move he can show what he is all about. No disrespect, I think he’s a step above Bournemouth, but I think it’s a great thing for him to do. He’s really putting himself out there.”
Wilshere was asked about Redknapp’s career advice, and appeared to find it strange, dismissing it out of hand.
“I don’t know where he got that from,” the England midfielder said.
“I’m just trying to get back to what I was, enjoying my football and playing week-in, week-out and today was a massive step towards that. I’ve not really thought about that so how other people can comment on it.
“If he doesn’t see me going back to Arsenal then that’s up to him. He’s entitled to his opinion but I haven’t thought about that.”
Does Redknapp have a point? Possibly, but it was arguably strange timing to make such a remark, considering Wilshere had just completed his first full game since September 2014.
Wilshere is right to only focus on his form for Bournemouth given his injury record in recent seasons, and will surely worry about his Arsenal future next summer.
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