Liam Ridgewell admitted that he could envision West Ham midfielder Jack Wilshere joining an MLS club in the future.
The former Premier League defender, who started his career at the Hammers, revealed that he thought heading to America could work wonders for the high-profile Hammers player as his injuries problems wouldn’t weigh on his mind as much.
“So I can definitely see Jack going out there,” said Ridgewell in an interview with The Athletic.
“He had all his injuries at Arsenal and since he’s been at West Ham it hasn’t really worked out.
“I think Jack would find going to America very refreshing and I think his injury problems would go, because he wouldn’t be worried about it and it wouldn’t be playing up in his mind all the time.
“He’s a prime example where, if he had the opportunity to go, I would definitely tell him to go and do it.”
Ridgewell was asked about Wilshere heading to America after The Athletic reported that according to their sources a move to the MLS appeals to the Hammers midfielder.
OPINION
Ridgewell spent five-years playing for MLS club Portland Timbers before returning to England on a permanent basis by joining Hull City in 2019, so he knows what it takes to do well in America and knows the benefits of playing in the country’s top-flight. So clearly if he thinks Wilshere could be happier in the MLS, then there’s a chance the midfielder could be. However, when you consider he is still only 27-years-old, you feel the midfielder won’t want to head to America anytime soon and would rather keep playing his football in the Premier League as it’s a much more respected division. This is especially the case when you consider The Athletic state that dropping down into the Championship or heading to play his football in India or China doesn’t appeal to him, as it shows he wants to play at the highest possible level. Wilshere has played 180 times in the Premier League during his career and while he had an injury-hit 2018/19 campaign and is struggling to feature this season, it doesn’t mean he should give up on exceeding in England further just yet. The 27-year-old has been dispossessed 1.2 times per game across his six league outings so far, as per WhoScored, and while he needs to do better to hold onto the ball, he is likely still a bit rusty after such a long time without regular football.
