A year ago he was a relative unknown, but now Jack Wilshere is part of the Arsenal first-team squad and is considered one of the best young English talents to have come out of the Arsenal Academy for a long time. Justin Hoyte was the last Academy youngster to make the first-team but is hardly a regular now, and we all know what happened to Ashley Cole.
With Jack, however, there is something different. He has slotted into the first-team during pre-season with ease and his confidence and ability on the ball can be scarily good at times.
He joined Arsenal in October 2001 and steadily rose through the ranks at the Hale End Academy. It was clear from an early age that he possessed a lot of talent but the coaching staff were keen to keep him under wraps.
That proved a difficult task, however, as it was soon discovered that they had a real gem on their hands. A player who could turn out to be a superstar.
He was appointed captain of the under-16s and was a dominant force at that level before making two substitute appearances for the under-18s at the back end of the 2006/2007 season despite being just 15 years of age.
He then featured in the Champions Youth Cup in the summer of 2007 and caught the eye with some impressive performances.
Upon his return to England, under-18s manager Steve Bould handed Jack a start for the under-18s curtain raiser against Chelsea and his commitment and desire shone through that day.
He then grabbed his first goal at that level, scoring in a 4-1 win over Aston Villa and following it up with a hat-trick in the following game against Watford. He went on to score 13 goals from 18 starts last season as Bould’s side topped Academy Group A.
In February this year, he made his debut for the reserves and wasted no time in making his mark at that level, scoring against Reading in front of the Arsenal TV cameras. This was the moment when many Arsenal fans began to realise his undoubted potential.
He then made his home debut for the second-string against Derby in April, coming off the bench to set up a goal for Rhys Murphy.
Wilshere-mania went into overdrive following his display in the next game against West Ham. The talented youngster played a neat through ball for Rui Fonte for the first goal and then scored the second himself with what can only be described as a wonder-strike. Arsene Wenger was watching and it became clear that he wouldn’t remain in the reserves for long.
Rather than give him a run out in the final Premier League games of the season, Arsenal opted instead to send him to the Atalanta Cup with some of the clubs younger players. It was a wise move as Wilshere picked up the Player of the tournament trophy and it meant that some of the hype surrounding him died down a little bit.
Not for long though, Jack again showed his fantastic ability on the ball when he came on in the second-half of the first-team friendly against Barnet. He impressed so much that he earned a place on the plane for the pre-season tour of Austria and started against Szombatheyli Haladas and put in another impressive display. He then scored twice in the 10-2 thrashing of Burgenland. The first came just 40 seconds into the game when he scrambled a shot home. The second came when he was brought down in the area and stepped up to take the penalty himself and scored. He came on against Stuttgart in the next match and scored again before featuring against both Juventus and Real Madrid at the Emirates Cup.
Today sees him join the first-team squad and handed the no.19 shirt, recently vacated by Gilberto. It was initially thought that Jack’s first-team involvement this season would amount to a few cameos in the Carling Cup. Now, it appears, it could turn out to be much more than that.
