The shock transfer news on Monday night was that Jack Wilshere was available to leave Arsenal in a loan move ahead of the deadline, and it was his request that reportedly sparked it.
The 24-year-old has yet to start a Premier League game this season and saw a tough start to the campaign compounded by being left out of Sam Allardyce’s first England squad.
In turn, according to The Sun, that led Wilshere to meet with Arsene Wenger to seek assurances about his future at the club and that ultimately led to the possibility of a loan move being considered.
Wilshere has been blighted by injuries during his career, which have restricted him to just 159 appearances in eight years for the Gunners, and so while competition for places can be blamed, so can his injury record.
His best year fitness wise was 2010/11 when he made 35 appearances in the Premier League, but since then, he hasn’t managed to reach the 30-game mark once.
Last year, he missed most of the campaign with injury and made just three outings before being called up by Roy Hodgson for his Euro 2016 squad.
Having failed to impress there too, further question marks were raised about him as Arsenal confirmed the signing of Granit Xhaka.
Along with the likes of Santi Cazorla, Francis Coquelin, Mohamed Elneny and Aaron Ramsey, Wilshere has slipped down the pecking order in Arsenal’s midfield, while a role further up the field has also become more difficult with the competition for places there too.
As a result, perhaps a loan move away from the Emirates makes sense at this point to allow him to regain full fitness with a regular spot in the starting line-up for another side.
However, the biggest decision will be which club Arsenal allow him to join, as it would be foolish to hand him over to a rival in the Premier League, with a possible move abroad now making the most sense for the midfielder.