Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere has revealed the final straw that made him snap and choose to leave the Emirates Stadium this summer.
The Gunners ace ended up making a deadline day loan move to Bournemouth after a number of late offers came in, and says it was a snub from England that convinced him it was time to move.
Wilshere has struggled for playing time due to fitness and form over the last few years, and missed out on an early-season call-up to the national team.
After holding talks with Crystal Palace and Bournemouth on the final day of the transfer window, it was a conversation with Eddie Howe that persuaded him to choose a move to the Cherries.
‘It (not making the England squad) was the final straw. It hurt not being in there,’ the 24-year-old told the Daily Mail.
‘I met Alan Pardew. He was good, to be fair. I really liked his ideas in terms of what he wanted to do with me at Palace.
‘But a big part of me wanted to get away from it all, get away from London. And Eddie Howe was great. Straight away he talked about the things he thought I could improve on and stuff like that and I agreed with him. And what I liked was the fact that, even when they are struggling, Bournemouth never shy away from wanting to play football.
‘Once I’d spoken to Eddie I made my mind up. There was something about him that made me feel I wanted to work with him.’
On whether he could leave Arsenal, he added: ‘I haven’t really thought about my future beyond getting a season under my belt and just trying to improve as a player.
‘I genuinely don’t know if I am going to end up at Arsenal or somewhere else.
‘If you’d ask me two months ago if I was going to finish my career at Arsenal then I would have said, “Yeah, of course”.
‘The fans have been great to me, the boss has been great to me. I have a lot of friends there. But sometimes that’s the way football is. Two months ago I wouldn’t have seen myself being here, but here I am. And I’m enjoying it.’
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