Jack Wilshere: Ex Arsenal Star Recounts the Injury Which Began the End of His Career

• Jack Wilshere was one of the brightest English prospects when he broke onto the scene at Arsenal
• He bossed the legendary midfield of Xavi and Iniesta in the Champions League at age 19
• Injuries hampered his career and he has now opened up about the beginning of the end

Jack Wilshere has looked back at the beginning of the end of his career. Injuries limited him as one of the brightest young English prospects in football.

He made his debut for Arsenal as a 16-year-old in September 2008 as an 84th-minute substitute for Dutch striker Robin van Persie against Blackburn Rovers.

Arsene Wenger gradually eased him into the squad and he announced himself to the world when he took over the midfield against the legendary duo of Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez in the Champions League.

According to SportBible, his career soon took a negative turn when he suffered a nasty right ankle injury at the end of the 2010/11 season. It was the unannounced end of the road for him.

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Wilshere reveals his worst injury

At 31, he retired after spending time at West Ham, Bournemouth, and Aarhus in Denmark. He has now opened up on the worst injury of his troubled career.

“My first injury was my worst, and I paid the price a lot for that,” he said on Ben Foster’s Fozcast. “It was my right ankle. It was the talus, which is a little bone that sits on top of your fibula and your ankle joint. And I fractured that.”

He revealed that the surgeon admitted he had only seen such an injury once in a snowboarder, and got in another surgeon to conduct the surgery, but the biggest shock was unknown until six years later.

“I was 19 when the injury happened. Six years later, I was 25 and went back to see the surgeon, and he was like, ‘Are you still playing?’. He showed me the notes from the surgery, and they said: ‘You might not play again. Might not be able to walk’,” he added.

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Wilshere is currently building his coaching portfolio as the U-18 coach of the Arsenal academy. He led them to the FA Youth Cup final, which they lost to West Ham United.

Wenger’s tribute to Wilshere

Sports Brief reported that Arsene Wenger gave a glowing tribute to Wilshere when he announced his retirement from professional football last year.

The legendary boss described the former England international as a 'fearless player' - an attribute which helped kick start his career early.