Jack Wilshere may still play an important role this season

Arsenal’s midfield performance at Anfield yesterday was nothing short of embarrassing and will have infuriated Arsène Wenger enormously, sparking him to sell certain players who are not 100% committed to the club.

This could however prove to be a positive for a certain someone, Jack Wilshere. The Englishman has had injury woes throughout the last few seasons and has never played a crucial role for the Gunners since his breakthrough campaign seven years ago.

However, despite Wenger not being able to rely on the Englishman for years now, he still hasn't bought a midfielder capable of replacing the talent of Wilshere.

Wilshere has always given his 100% for the Gunners and if he was to return to the team, now would not be any different, suggesting it may be worth the risk to give him one last opportunity.

Granit Xhaka arrived at the club in the last summer transfer window. Despite a poor start, he began to look like an excellent signing at the end of last season he finally started to flourish in his deep playmaker role.

This was helped by the fact he was playing alongside Aaron Ramsey, who naturally suited him as a partner in the midfield.

However, in his first three games, Swiss international Xhaka has not performed so well. This could certainly see Wilshere be given one final opportunity to prove himself and his fitness in his final year of his contract.

This could be to secure a new deal at Arsenal, or another big club, but his performances will decide the Englishman’s near future.

He has never scored or assisted much, but Wilshere’s contribution on the pitch mustn’t be underestimated. His influence is seen throughout the game with him regularly picking the ball up and either driving past the opposition’s midfield or spreading the play.

He has a wonderful passing range along with great balance and strength when dribbling. These two key skills would help Arsenal enormously at the moment. With Xhaka being low on confidence, his passing has cost Arsenal in damaging positions and his errors have led to goals on three occasions already this season.

Alongside him, his partner Ramsey lacks discipline and often finds himself making runs into the box but not many runs back to help defensively. Wilshere can pass and dribble out of tricky situations with ease, as well as staying disciplined in a midfield partnership.

Since the 2010/11 season, Wilshere has only been able to play 66 times in five full seasons and he has many critics.

However, the 25-year-old’s talent is simply undeniable. His first full season where he made 35 league appearances as an 18-year-old for a top four team clearly proved how much potential he had, some of which could return with a run of games.

If Wilshere could find some of his form from his younger years, he could become a world class player. With a more mature head on his shoulders at 25, he could be an even better player than he was back in 2011. Even then he was being hailed as a future great whilst also being compared to Xavi and Andres Iniesta, indicating how good he could still be.

Wilshere was once compared with Iniesta, an all time great

Additionally, Wilshere coming back into the fold at Arsenal will only boost England’s hopes of better international tournaments.

Wilshere won man of the match in seven consecutive games for England, showing how incredible the midfielder can be.

Two magnificent strikes in the same game against Slovenia was the pick of the bunch in his run of man of the match performances. If Wilshere is fit and firing at Arsenal, he will also be a big part of Gareth Southgate’s England squads.

The Englishman playing games for Arsenal and him finally reaching the potential everybody expects, relies on him avoiding injury. Due to his playing style of dribbling to the final second before releasing it has caused a lot of his injuries in the past, something that he has found difficult to take out of his game, understandably.

He has been unfortunate in that aspect that so many of the impact injuries he has suffered have caused either ligament damage or a leg break or fracture. If he could just avoid a long-term injury for a whole season, Arsenal could find Wilshere extremely useful in a central midfield role.

With all that is happening at Arsenal currently, it looks like Wilshere could soon return to the starting 11 and soon become an important player again. That is if he can remain fit all season.