Jack Wilshere believes Arsenal’s capture of Danny Welbeck is a real bargain and revealed that he didn’t leave his England teammate alone once the striker let on that he might be moving to the Emirates.

Wilshere was with Welbeck on England duty at London Colney when negotiations between Manchester United and the Gunners stepped up and he couldn’t help but get caught up in the excitement.

Speaking exclusively to Arseblog News at the BGC Charity Day where he was representing Great Ormond Street Hospital, the midfielder remarked: “It was interesting as we were on our way to training when he said to me, ‘It might be on that I’m coming to Arsenal.’

“From then on I didn’t leave him alone all afternoon. It was seven or eight hours, but he was buzzing!”

Noting that it’s rare for big business to be done between the Premier League’s top four, Wilshere claimed the deal marks something of a coup for Arsenal and a stamp of approval for Welbeck’s quality.

“There aren’t many players who move from one top club to another in England, especially English players. It’s unheard of really. That speaks volumes of the quality he’s got.”

Continuing on the theme, Wilshere also touched on comments made by England coach Gary Neville, who is on the record as saying he can’t believe a player of Welbeck’s ability left Old Trafford for such a small fee to a rival club.

“Gary Neville knows what he’s talking about, in today’s market £16 million is nothing really.

“The quality he’s got we’ve got a real bargain there. What Gary Neville’s said is probably because he [Danny] is a Man United boy who grew up in Manchester. [His background] is a bit a bit like me and Arsenal…it’s a bit like Arsenal letting me go for a straight £16 million, it probably wouldn’t happen.”

Wilshere has started every game for club and country this season (correction, Leicester aside!) retaining the faith of both Arsene Wenger and Roy Hodgson who’ve been treated to flashes of the quality he promised when he burst on the scene as a 16-year-old.

Unperturbed by the flurry of articles that have appeared over the last 18 months questioning his ability, Wilshere maintains that the opinions of his coaches are the only ones that matter.

“It’s part and parcel of the game. People are entitled to their opinion, whether I listen to them or not is completely down to me. I know the people who are going to help me in my career and who has an influence on me – the boss, a few coaches who I respect. Everyone else can say what they want – I won’t listen to them.

“I always speak to Arsene – even a few seasons ago when people weren’t saying anything about me or when I was playing well we spoke. He is a bit like me, he doesn’t pay attention to what a lot of the ex-players and some of the journalists say. He knows when I have a good game and that’s all that matters.”

Wilshere was also quick to acknowledge that his experience at the top level, having made his debut in 2008, means that age is no excuse for having a bad game.

“I think that is an easy excuse. You know, I’ve been around for a while now, it’s six years since I last made my debut. In a normal career that would be 20 years, but football is a short career. I’m feeling good, fully fit and raring to go.

“When you are younger, you look at the criticism and when you have a bad game it gets on top of you. But in football you play every three days so there is always a time to put it right.”

As the season ramps up after the first international break all eyes turn to building momentum in the Premier League. It means starting with a positive result against Manchester City after two draws against Everton and Leicester City.

“We’ve had a strong start to the season but it’s not been easy, especially when right in the middle we’ve had to travel to Besiktas getting back at 5am. If you look at the Everton game, I think you would say given the circumstances we would have taken a draw there. Maybe against Leicester we could have won the game, but we’re unbeaten and that is the main thing. Come Saturday, I think we will be ready for it.

“It will be a tough game, we know that. It always is. We’ve played them a number of times over the last few years. They are always a strong team and they are always going to be up there at the end of the season. We played them a few weeks ago and we came out on top. That doesn’t mean that we are going to beat them 3-0 though.

“Dortmund are just round the corner too, but it isn’t just them two, we have got a really busy schedule up until the nextinternational break. Hopefully we can keep all our players fit because we have improved the squad this year.

“I’m not going to stand here and say it is a must win game. It’s too early. We want to win every game but if we don’t win it, it won’t be the end of the world. Obviously if we do win it, I’m sure it will send out a strong statement, we’ve been here before. Normally we start the season really well, it’s when we get to February and March that we’ve previously dropped off.

“This year we’ve added a few world class player and hopefully that will make the difference. Over the past few years we haven’t had world class signings like the players we have bought in. It’s exciting.”

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Nigel Brown is the co-founder of DirtandGloryMedia.com. You can follow him on Twitter @NigelBrown01

You can donate to Great Ormond Street Hospital here.

Picture courtesy of Arsenal.com.