Burnden Aces

Jack Wilshere: Bolton Loan 'Made Me Grow Up'

• February 21, 2016 | By Chris Mann
• Short URL: http://b-ac.es/fc466

•  
• Arsenal, Hull City, Jack Wilshere, West Ham United
• 

• See Also

• Wilshere Joins Bolton

Jack Wilshere claims to have rejected moves to Hull City and West Ham United in favour of Bolton, stating his time at the club made him grow up.

Wilshere joined Wanderers on loan from Arsenal in January 2010 and went on to make 14 appearances for the club, scoring once, before returning to the Emirates Stadium and becoming an established member of the Gunners' first-team squad.

Injuries have had a severe impact on his progress since then, restricting the 24-year-old to just 100 league appearances, but, with a return to action said to be on the horizon, Wilshere was quizzed on his time at the Reebok Stadium and how it made him progress as a player.

"It was great," Wilshere told BT Sport. "It wasn't the finishing school because I was still young, but it made me grow up and realise what it is to play in the Premier League.

"I'd had enough (at Arsenal). I'd been playing in the reserves and on the edge of the first team, coming on and I remember saying to the boss 'Look, I want to play'.

"He was great. He said 'Okay, you've got three options - West Ham, Hull and Bolton.'

"Mark Randall, who used to play for Arsenal, went on loan to Burnley with Owen Coyle and said 'You have to go there (Bolton). He's great' and he was right, he was great. He played me and it made me grow up.

"I was playing with Kevin Davies and big players. It wasn't about developing and, all of a sudden, we had to win week in, week out."

.@JackWilshere says his loan spell at @OfficialBWFC made him "grow up" as a professional footballer. #FletchAndSav https://t.co/igqTgYYKY7

— Fletch And Sav (@FletchAndSav) February 20, 2016

• 
• Burnden Aces

• 
• @BurndenAces