Wilshere Will Be Skipper....But Not Quite Yet

Jack Wilshere is likely to become Arsenal’s youngest ever captain in this weekend’s 4^th round FA cup tie against Brighton but Arsene Wenger has made it clear it will only be on a temporary measure.

At times this season, well most of the time, Wilshere has cut a frustrated figure in the middle of the park as his side struggle to get a good run of form going and Arsenal boss Wenger has recognised the leadership qualities in the young star, "Wilshere is naturally a guy who is not scared of anything on the football pitch and that is usually the sign of a leader. He wants to win and shows you that.

"Of course he will be one of the leaders of this club - in fact he already is. A leader is somebody who does everything on the pitch to help his team to win. And he does that.

"If you are asking me if I will take the captaincy away from Vermaelen? No. But I think Jack will be captain of this club one day.

"It is important that the player gets to the stage where he develops first completely into an accomplished football player and then takes responsibility to take care of other people."

If Wilshere does deputise for the injured Vermaelen this weekend he will become the youngest ever captain of Arsenal at 21 years and 26 days, 56 days younger than Tony Adams when he wore the captains arm-band for the first time.

Sam Jewell

Follow @sw_jewell