OPINION
West Ham United midfielder Jack Wilshere has got to be one of the unluckiest players in football, right?
The 27-year-old has been plagued with injury throughout most of his career, and it is arguably the one thing that stopped him from reaching his full potential with Arsenal. That being said, it is safe to assume that his ankle has been his Achilles heel for a very long time.
That is no different with the Hammers. He made the move across London in search of a fresh start, and in the first few games, it looked to be heading that way – but then his ankle flared up again, and here he is, having missed most of the season.
However, he has stepped up his recovery by training with the under-23s recently. There is no doubt a part of him that wants to play some sort of role in the games that remain, and who can blame him? It must have been a very long season sitting on the sidelines.
“It has been great to get on the pitch. You cannot really get that match fitness just from running. You need to be around players. Hopefully in the near future I will be involved in the first team,” he said, as quoted by the Evening Standard.
Nevertheless, his hopes of making a near future have been dashed by this Evening Standard report. It says that boss Manuel Pellegrini is keen not to rush him back into action for the last seven games of the campaign.
Wilshere will no doubt be gutted by what has been said here. He wants to get back playing as soon as he can, but the fact that he could likely not make an appearance in the season run-in will surely have him feeling a bit disheartened.
It is wise for Pellegrini not to rush him back into the team. After all, he does not want Wilshere to have his injury flare up again. Either way though, the barely-seen player – who has appeared five times this term – will surely be gutted.
