By John Cross
Arsene Wenger has backed Jack Wilshere to become Arsenal's next captain - and to also wear the England armband in the future.
Wilshere took over as skipper when Thomas Vermaelen limped off against West Ham in midweek, and vice captain Mikel Arteta is definitely out of Saturday's FA Cup fourth round trip to Brighton.
Wenger is keen to give Wilshere a rest, but the England midfielder is desperate to become the youngest captain in the club's history at 21 years and 26 days - beating Tony Adams by 56 days.
"I think Jack will be captain of this club - yes, of course," said the Gunners boss.
"First of all, because of the quality of the player. Second, his commitment and desire to win. And his understanding of the game. He understands football very well and senses on the pitch what you have to do.
"Jack is naturally a guy who is not scared of anything on the football pitch and that is usually the sign of a leader. He wants to win and shows you that.
"Of course he will be one of the leaders of this club - in fact he is already on the pitch. A leader is somebody who does everything on the pitch to help his team to win. And he does that."
Wenger is still considering who to give the role at Brighton, adding: "I haven't decided that yet. Vermaelen made that choice on Wednesday and I let him make it.
"It is always interesting to see, when Vermaelen is out, who he feels spontaneously should be the captain. I did not want to stop him. It is interesting because the players know on the pitch.
"At the moment, for me, we have two captains: Vermaelen and Arteta and, after them, occasional captains. On the day, why not? He can be, yes."
Wilshere has been in exceptional form for the past month even when Arsenal have suffered defeats and has shown no ill effects after his 17-month injury nightmare.
His commitment is another reason why Wenger believes he has the attributes to lead his country in the future.
Wenger said: "The potential is there, of course. But I'm not national team coach - you should ask that question to Roy Hodgson, who will be happy to talk about it."
Arsenal will be desperate to avoid another upset to opposition from a lower division having already succumbed to Bradford in the Capital One Cup, while Brighton knocked out Newcastle in the third round of the FA Cup.
The FA Cup offers Arsenal their best chance of silverware this season and Wenger has already won the trophy four times.
Wenger added: "It is important because people will look at us, how we respond to a challenge like the FA Cup. We wanted to do well in the Capital One Cup. After what happened (at Bradford), of course it's important for us to show we are ready and motivated.
"It is important to go for every trophy we can. It is not the only trophy. We are in the Champions League. I know you have already kicked us out but we will surprise you against Bayern Munich!
"We will take it seriously. You know I won four times the FA Cup because I take the competition seriously."
Gus Poyet's positive memories of facing Arsenal begin and end with Nayim
lobbing David Seaman from the halfway line, writes Ian Winrow.
The Brighton manager was part of the Real Zaragoza that stunned the Gunners in the Cup Winners' Cup final in Paris in 1995 - but never hit the same high a player with Chelsea and Tottenham.
But now he is hoping to finally experience a second landmark moment against the north London club when Arsene Wenger's side visit the Amex Stadium.
Poyet said: "I always said they should put something behind that goal in the Parc des Princes, so they can remember that goal for ever as it won't be repeated. It was special.
"I always had problems with Arsenal, as when I was playing with Chelsea my idea was not only to beat them when we played against them, it was to beat them in the League so we could win the League.
"I think that team of Arsenal is totally different to the one that we play now. That was a really, really difficult team to play against, not only as they had quality but they had men on the pitch and were mad about it. They were winners. It was a big difference.
"But the only very, very good game I have played against Arsenal that I will remember all my life is the one in Paris, with the Nayim goal from the middle of the park. The rest were OK, not bad but not my best."
Poyet is determined to finally pick Wenger's brains after the match after failing to get chance to watch the Frenchman in action when he was breaking into management.
He added: "There was a moment when I really wanted to go and see and spend time watching Arsenal training but unfortunately it wasn't possible because they've got so many people wanting to go that they needed to stop.
"So I will use the time that I'm with him to ask him a few questions - not about the game of course, but about things, how he does things, how I can understand them, what I can learn from him."
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