Jack Wilshere has joined Arsenal vice-captain Mikel Arteta in calling on Arsene Wenger to spend significantly in the summer's transfer market. The 21-year-old England international echoed Arteta's views that the Gunners needed a larger and more capable squad to win titles.

Jack Wilshere
Reuters

"Manchester United won the title last season yet it wasn't the best United team we've seen. They won it because they had a big squad. If you look at their games, they sometimes rotated the whole back four. We've got a strong team at Arsenal and if we can add a few more to our squad then it can be a good season for us," Wilshere explained.

"We've got the Champions League, the FA and Capital One cups and the Premier League to contend with - it never stops. It's impossible to play in every game. I've learned myself that if you try to it can only lead to injury," he added.

Wenger's infamous policy of recruiting young and talented but unproven players has its place in the north London club's proud tradition. Wilshere and Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas are excellent examples of the Frenchman's ability to groom young talent. And Dutch striker Robin van Persie and ex-French international Thierry Henry are examples of the boss' ability to develop players and get the best out of them.

However, as Arteta pointed out earlier and Wilshere has now, for all of the Gunners' philosophy and class, the fact remains United, Manchester City and Chelsea have spent money to strengthen the side by recruiting a core of proven top-class players and they have won titles.

The club does have significantly improved financial resources this summer, as confirmed by chief executive Ivan Gazidis. Wenger is believed to have £70m in hand and a change in transfer policy seems indicated by talk of potential targets like Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain, Everton midfielder Marouane Fellaini and unsettled Manchester United forward Wayne Rooney, each of whom would comfortably smash the transfer record at the Emirates.

And Wilshere is keen to impress on his boss the mental impact of big-name signings, saying it could give the players, staff and fans a massive boost. And that could be enough to end a nearly decade long trophy drought, particularly since this season is set to feature new faces in the dugouts of the title challengers.

"Everything has changed at the other top-four clubs. [Sir] Alex Ferguson has gone, Chelsea and City have new managers. We showed how good we can be during the run-in last season," Wilshere explained, "Now the goal is to play with that kind of consistency all season. If we can, we can definitely win something."