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Jack Wilshere was absent from yesterday’s 3-1 win over Chivas Guadalajara, and afterwards, it was confirmed that the 24-year old had missed the match after sustaining a minor injury:
Wenger confirmed Jack Wilshere has a slight patella issue, but he "should come back quickly" and he "should be on the tour [this week]" #AFC
— Ben Dinnery (@BenDinnery) August 1, 2016
The tour that Wenger refers to is a trip to Scandinavia, where Arsenal will play Viking FK on Friday and Manchester City on Sunday. Having only played 45 minutes this pre-season, it is fairly important for Wilshere to get game time, ahead of Arsenal’s opening match with Liverpool, which is only 13 days away.
Of course, there is the added fact that this is Jack Wilshere. Last season, Wilshere was initially supposed to only be out 5 days, and then 3 weeks. He ended up missing all but 3 matches, which follows on from missing a significant amount of the 2014-15 season with injury; in fact, Wilshere, who turns 25 on New Year’s Day, played 897 minutes in 2014-15, which is just under 10 full games, and 141 minutes last season, which is just above 1 and a half full games. At one point in his injury-plagued, Arsenal desperately needed Wilshere in midfield; now, with the additions of Mohamed Elneny, Granit Xhaka and Mesut Özil over the past 3 seasons, that need is greatly reduced, and Wilshere should be very much on the outside looking in.