Former Arsenal, West Ham United and England midfielder Jack Wilshere has found a new home at a former club.
AFC Bournemouth have now officially announced the return of the 29-year-old on a short term contract until the end of the current 2020/21 Championship campaign.
Wilshere played for the Cherries three-and-a-half years ago when he was signed by then Cherries manager Eddie Howe on loan from Arsenal.
During his loan spell, Wilshere became a fan favourite amongst the Dean Court faithful and made 27 Premier League appearances for the club, in what turned out to be the most game time he had enjoyed in the league since the 2010/11 season with Arsenal with 1,916 minutes played.
His form with AFC Bournemouth saw him return to London to make 20 Premier League appearances and 13 UEFA Europa League appearances for Arsenal, before making the move across the capital to West Ham United.
However, the move proved to be an unsuccessful one, with just 601 minutes of league football in over two years with the club, with Wilshere eventually having his contract terminated by mutual consent.
As a free agent, Wilshere has been able to choose whoever he wanted to join and has opted to return to the south coast after three weeks training with the club. He becomes AFC Bournemouth manager Jason Tindall’s first permanent signing after taking over the role during the summer of 2020.
Alex Crook who is a journalist for talkSPORT radio has reported that the deal is not a pay-as-you-play deal, however, he has taken a significant wage cut from his former deal with West Ham United and will not be one of the top earners at Dean Court.
A little bit of extra info re: Jack Wilshere. Am told his contract is NOT pay as you play but suffice to say he has taken a significant drop in wages to the six figures a-week he was on at #WHUFC will not even be the top earner at #AFCB
— Alex Crook ⚽️🎙 (@alex_crook) January 18, 2021
"He feels he's got some unfinished business here at Bournemouth."#afcb boss Jason Tindall speaks to @kristemple about the return of @JackWilshere 🍒⬇️ pic.twitter.com/sSXfi7dgKi
— BBC Radio Solent Sport (@solentsport) January 18, 2021
Upon the announcement of the deal Wilshere told afcb.co.uk…
“It feels great to be back and I can’t wait to get started,”
“From the minute I walked through the door three weeks ago, it felt natural and like I had never been away.
“I know a lot of the players and staff here and I’m pleased they allowed me to train initially, and then it just went from, there.
“I’ve been impressed by the coaching staff, the way they work and the ambitions of the club to get back in the Premier League.
“We all share the same ambitions and I’m looking forward to playing my part in helping achieve those.”
Can't wait to get started….Let's go cherries 🍒 @afcbournemouth pic.twitter.com/2OzB6LNIoZ
— Jack Wilshere (@JackWilshere) January 18, 2021
Your say…
SteveJonesLegend wrote…
As has been mentioned already, Wilshere experienced one of his best spells for being injury-free when in a red n black shirt. Eddie managed him well and knew how much Wilshere could do. One would hope that Tindall will also understand how to treat Jack and manage him.
Wilshere obviously likes it down here and wants to be here… He could have chosen other clubs to train with but opted to come down here. A lot of loan players still live in their home location and use the loan club as just that… a loan club. Wilshere invested in us last time… moved his family down here, got his kids all over social media in AFCB kits etc. bonded well wit the team and seemed to be really enjoying himself on the coast.
If he’s got “unfinished business” here then we can hope that he will go all out for us. He was never really utilised in his best role under Eddie. We all knew he wasn’t the man for the flat 4 midfield. Hopefully now we’ll start to see him more attacking in that front 3.
For me, Solanke, King, Danjuma, Brooks, Stanislas and Wilshere is a pretty decent looking attacking line up…
Hoping we see him on Tuesday… and well done all involved in getting him here and getting him to sign a short-term deal… – Join the conversation, click here
