Jack Wilshere: Former Arsenal, England midfielder retires at 30 but memories of his thrilling talent will endure

It is a sad end to a career that promised so much but memories of Jack Wilshere’s thrilling talent will endure – especially to those who witnessed his mesmerising performance in Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona in February of 2011.

Wilshere had only turned 19 a month earlier. He stepped out at the Emirates Stadium that night as the youngest player on the pitch. But what followed, against perhaps the greatest club side in history, was an exhibition in fearlessness and technical brilliance.

There he was, on his own at the base of midfield, spinning past Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi. There he was, haring after Xavi Hernandez and Sergio Busquets, then motoring away from them, ball, crowd and opponent all under his spell.

By the end, he had completed 43 out of 46 passes – including the one to release Cesc Fabregas in the build-up to Andrey Arshavin’s memorable winner – while only Messi had made more dribbles.

Image: A 19-year-old Jack Wilshere takes on Barcelona’s Xavi Hernandez

Control. Composure. Quality. It was all there in swathes.

Wilshere was named man of the match, his tantalising potential brilliantly displayed on a global stage and his performance, in front of adoring supporters, immediately entering Arsenal folklore.

Fabregas, his partner in Arsenal’s midfield that night, described him as “one of the most talented players I’ve ever played with” while Arsene Wenger, the manager whose faith he had so rewarded, said he could become “one of the best in the world”.

Wilshere had, of course, already emerged as a key figure for Wenger at that point, becoming the second-youngest player in Arsenal’s history when making his debut at 16 three years earlier, then returning from a loan spell at Bolton ready to establish himself.

He did so in majestic style, featuring in all but three of Arsenal’s Premier League games over the course of that brilliant, breakout season and playing more Champions League minutes than any of his team-mates.

Fabio Capello, the man who had given Wilshere his international debut at the start of that season, labelled him England’s “future” – even if the Italian wasn’t himself. “Spanish technique but an English heart,” was Wenger’s description.

Here, at last, was precisely the kind of midfielder this country had lacked for so long and the accolades soon followed. PFA Young Player of the Year. A place in the PFA Team of the Year too.

Thinking back to those exhilarating beginnings, it is easy to understand why Wilshere has found it, in his words, “difficult to accept” the circumstances which have led him to call time on his career at 30.

That night against Barcelona was just one of many highs. Wilshere captained Arsenal and won two FA Cups. As well as delivering one of the Emirates Stadium’s best individual performances, he scored perhaps its greatest goal with his stunning strike against Norwich in 2013. For England, there were 34 appearances and two goals.

Wilshere describes those achievements as “beyond his wildest dreams” as a young boy growing up in the Hertfordshire town of Hitchin. But the extent of his talent means there is no escaping the feeling that there should have been so much more.

The spectre of injury emerged with cruel timing, a stress fracture of his right ankle in a friendly against New York Red Bulls in July 2011 denying him the chance to build on his breakthrough campaign.

Wilshere was expected to miss “four to five months” after undergoing surgery that September but complications emerged and the recovery proved far slower than anticipated.

Wilshere ended up watching the entirety of the 2011/12 season from the sidelines and a player once earmarked for a key role at Euro 2012 found himself watching the tournament from afar.

When he did finally make his return to action, in a Premier League meeting with QPR at the Emirates Stadium in October 2012, he had gone 524 days without playing.

“It was a long journey,” he said afterwards.

Image: Jack Wilshere looks distraught after suffering an injury

Sadly, it was one he would find himself repeating.

He made 33 appearances in all competitions that season and 35 in the next, but misfortune struck again in March 2014, another fracture, this time to his foot.

It was a testament to Wilshere’s determination that he initially played on after suffering that injury, shrugging it off as “just a bruise” after coming through an hour of an England friendly against Denmark.

But the reality was inescapable. Wilshere would recover in time to help Arsenal win the 2014 FA Cup before featuring at that summer’s World Cup in Brazil, but more frustration followed in the form of more ankle problems in the subsequent season.

His ability to draw fouls was part of what made him such a thrilling player to watch but the late challenges took a toll.

Again, Wilshere returned in time to play a part in Arsenal’s FA Cup final win over Aston Villa, this time following it up with a memorable two-goal performance for England in a European Qualifying win over Slovenia in Ljubljana.

But the pattern of his career continued.

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Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes Jack Wilshere has made the right decision to retire and gives his view on what could be next for the 30-year-old

Wilshere managed just three appearances across the 2015/16 season and while he did feature more prominently in 2017/18, making 35 appearances in all competitions for Arsenal following a successful loan spell with Bournemouth in 2016/17, it proved to be his last at the Emirates Stadium.

A move to West Ham was one Wilshere would later admit to regretting and it brought more ill fortune, injuries again restricting his playing time. After a second loan at Bournemouth and a short spell with AGF in Denmark, Wilshere reached a point he had long dreaded.

“In truth it has been difficult to accept that my career has been slipping away in recent times due to reasons outside of my control whilst feeling that I have still had so much to give,” he said.

“However, having had time to reflect and talk with those closest with me I know that now is the right time and, despite the difficult moments, I look back on my career with great pride at what I have achieved.”

Wilshere’s goodbye is of course tinged with sadness but he is right to feel pride at his achievements. For the rest of us, the memories of Jack Wilshere, that impudent teenager so at home among the world’s best that night at the Emirates Stadium, will live on.

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