Veteran Arsenal head coach Arsene Wenger recently predicted that his current on loan player, Jack Wilshere, could become a future Arsenal manager and said that the England international will finish his career as a Gunner.
The 24-year-old midfielder is currently on loan to English Premier League rival AFC Bournemouth for one season as Wenger saw him as a surplus to his requirements at the Emirates Stadium this season.
However, the 66-year-old, two-decade manager of the Gunners believe that Wilshere is still an important player of the club and could even be a future bench tactician.
"Certainly one day he will be in my seat," said Wenger as he revealed during a recent interview that he will talk with Wilshere at the end of the season with regards to his future with the club, as per Daily Mail Online.
"He has a real football brain and understands football. You know really, it's in his genes," the coach said.
"He will spend his life in football. He is a football man, you either have that or you haven't got it. I see him in the future at this club. I think he can be a player here. Personally, I hope he stays here for his whole career. He is a real Arsenal man, as well," Wenger added.
Wilshere made his Cherries debut last Saturday as head coach Eddie Howe's squad nipped West Bromwich Albion, 1-0, at home at the Vitality Stadium.
Howe is one of the rumored candidates to replace Wenger at the end of the season as the 20-year Gunners manager is said to be contemplating on retirement.
Wenger admitted that Wilshere was allowed to leave on loan because the player had desired "to play regular Premier League football and win back his England place after he was omitted from Sam Allardyce's first squad".
"I am convinced he was hurt by that," Wenger said, regarding the Three Lions exclusion. "We have let him for health reasons. He is not yet completely at his physical level. If you look at the number of games he has played recently in the last six months, you cannot be at the competitive level he wants to be."
"I try always to combine the interests of the club and the player. He is an ambitious guy. We have all been his age, wanting to play football but we didn't have his talent. You can imagine what he must feel like when he cannot play with everything he can do. It is very frustrating," the coach said.
Meanwhile, Caught Offside noted that "only time will tell" if Wilshere's stint with Bournemouth would be a success.
