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‘Being really honest’… Jack Wilshere says he was surprised when Arsenal sold one player for £24m
Jack Wilshere has admitted that he was surprised and disappointed when Arsenal sanctioned the sale of one player back in 2012.
Jack Wilshereඣ came through at a difficult time in Arsenal’s recent history. The midfielder made his debut for the Gunners in 2008, just four years after the Invincibles had won the Premier League title.
𓆏Arsenal were in their new stadium at this stage. And ultimately, the team found itself gradually moving further and further away from the title picture. With that, Arsenal fans saw a number of their best players move on as they looked to realise their ambitions.
🐼Of course, some of the sales were more painful than others. On , Jack Wilshere touched on the likes of Samir Nasri, Emmanuel Adebayor and Cesc Fabregas all departing.
But it was perhaps the move of Robin van Persie🔴 from Arsenal to Manchester United for which confirmed that the Gunners were no longer genuine title contenders.
Jack Wilshere asked if he surprised to see Robin van Persie leave
𓆉Van Persie left after scoring 30 Premier League goals in what would prove to be his final year in North London.
🐟Wilshere was asked whether he was surprised to see van Persie join Manchester United.
“Yes, a little bit,” he said.
𝔍“Yeah, a little bit disappointed. But also, again, being really honest, thinking that’s probably the pathway that we were on. We’d lost Nasri, we’d lost Adebayor, we’d lost Cesc. Robin stayed for an extra year. Had an unbelievable year, I think he scored 30 goals. And I think he just knew, and he knew that we weren’t going to challenge in the next few years. We’d obviously got a new stadium and all that pressure that brings.”
Striker vindicated for leaving Arsenal for Manchester United
꧂As Wilshere goes on to note, van Persie was vindicated for making the move. The striker would go on to score 26 league goals in his first year at Old Trafford as Manchester United would go on to win the league title.
ไAs difficult as it is for Arsenal fans to admit, the Gunners were not in a position to challenge for the title. They would finish fourth in the end in that particular season, 16 points back of Sir Alex Ferguson’s men.
⭕Obviously, the gap would have been considerably smaller had van Persie stayed. But Arsenal were already well into a slide which would only end with Mikel Arteta being given time in the last few years.