Arsenal icon and talkSPORT pundit Ray Parlour has backed the Gunners to sign Jack Wilshere as an emergency option.
The Gunners endured a frustrating January transfer window, failing to bring any senior players in last month.
Arsenal made three signings, but two of those won’t join until the summer and the third will start out in the academy.
Mikel Arteta also sanctioned multiple exits, including six players who were in and around the first team.
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Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Folarin Balogun, Sead Kolasinac, Pablo Mari, Calum Chambers and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang all left.
This has left Arteta with just 18 first-team outfielders for the remaining 17 games of the Premier League campaign.
Meanwhile, Wilshere has been training with Arsenal since last October as he maintains his fitness ahead of a potential move.
Mohamed Elneny’s return from the Africa Cup of Nations next week will bolster Arteta’s midfield ranks.
However, Parlour believes giving a short-term deal to Wilshere would make sense in case of emergency situations.
“We all know what a player he was”
He told talkSPORT, via The Express: “He’s training with them every day now. I don’t think he’d be used, if I’m being honest.
“But if there was a massive injury crisis, you never know in football what can happen. You could get two or three midfield players injured.
“Mikel Arteta will know if he’s sharp enough, because it’s totally different from training to competitive games, totally different.
“There must be training games going on where it’s a little bit more competitive than the training session, and maybe he joins in with certain games like that.
“If he thinks he’s competitive enough, because we all know what a player he was, Jack, absolutely brilliant.
“I’m so shocked that he hasn’t got a club if I’m honest, at his age, because I’m sure he can bring a lot to different clubs.
“But it’s down to Jack, he might not want to play in the Championship or League One or wherever.
“He might only want to play in the Premier League, which cuts his options down and that’s the problem he’s probably had.”
Arteta, however, has been vocal about the topic in the past.
He has regularly insisted that Wilshere will not be rejoining Arsenal as a player.
When asked whether he could rule out a deal for Wilshere to temporarily solve the Gunners’ January depth issues, Arteta replied: “I think I was very clear on the situation with Jack and the role he’s going to have around here. And we will continue the same way.”
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