Arsene Wenger reckons English prodigy Jack Wilshere can become Arsenal’s new Dennis Bergkamp.
The midfielder has emerged as one of the country’s brightest talents.
And Gunners boss Wenger has tipped the 16-year-old to fill the boots of the Holland legend, who retired from football in May 2006.
Bergkamp scored 120 goals in 424 appearances for Arsenal after joining from Italian giants Inter Milan in 1995 for a then club-record fee of £7.5 million.
The Londoners have struggled to replace the Dutch superstar but Wenger claims Wilshere could be up to the task.
He said: “I believe he will end up a central midfielder, just off the striker in the Bergkamp role.
“I am convinced he will have tremendous penetrative power.
“We forget that this boy is only 16 and already has so much power — you give him four more years and he will be massively strong.
“He can find the final ball and can also score goals. He is a passionate and committed guy, he is not afraid of tackles and you would want this type of player to finish off central.”
Wilshere made his Premier League debut at Blackburn in September and starred in Arsenal’s run to the Carling Cup quarter-finals — opening his account for the club in the 6-0 drubbing of Sheffield United.
And he became the youngest player ever to represent the Londoners in European competition when he made his Champions League debut against Dynamo Kiev last month.
But Wenger warned fans not to demand too much too soon from his mercurial youngster.
He added: “I would not like to put too much pressure on Jack because of the expectation level.
“That is one of the problems you have when you are talented and very young — Theo Walcott went through that.
“At the start there is a lot of enthusiasm around players, and suddenly afterwards people say ‘oh he is not as good as we thought he would be’, there is a lot of scepticism around the player.
“He has to survive at the top level and it is not easy.
“Theo coped well with that and I am confident we can surround Jack well enough to deal with it.”
[Credit: TheSun]
Subscribe Now To Get More Premier League Updates!
