´I want to be wanted by Arsenal´ – Wilshere dismisses Man City links

Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere has pledged his future to the Emirates Stadium, despite reported interest from Manchester City.

City have already lost three home-grown players from their squad in James Milner, Frank Lampard and Dedryck Boyata and are set to target English-trained talent in the coming transfer window, with only a handful of names remaining that satisfy Premier League and UEFA quotas.

But Wilshere is only interested in playing for a club that admires his talent alone.

“I wouldn’t go somewhere just because I’m a home-grown player,” Wilshere said while on England duty.

“I’d want to be wanted by a club; I want to be wanted by Arsenal.

“I’ve grown up at Arsenal, I’m a home-grown player. As long as Arsenal want me, then I’m happy.”

Wilshere will hope to start for England against Lithuania on Sunday, after another injury-ravaged season with Arsenal.

An injured ankle, sustained in November against Manchester United, kept him out for almost six months – the midfielder has not managed a full season for Arsenal since bursting onto the scene in 2010-11.

Wilshere’s brave style of running with the ball into challenges has been cited as a source of many of his fitness problems, but the 23-year-old is not looking to change his approach. 

“When I was injured, a few people said I should change my game, I should get it and pass it,” he added.

“It did go through my head, I thought maybe they are right, maybe I should. But as soon as I came back and I got on the ball, I just wanted to run with it.

“There are things I can do. You look at the best dribblers in the world, [Lionel] Messi and [Andres] Iniesta, it seems to stick to their foot, so I can work on that when I am dribbling. But I am never going to change my game.”