- 29 Oct 2024
Wilshere was good enough to grace Barca or Madrid, claims Fabregas
Emmet Gates
- Updated: 19 May 2021 15:43 BST
- 3 min read
Monaco’s Cesc Fabregas believes that Jack Wilshere could’ve played for either Barcelona or Real Madrid had it not been for injuries.
Wilshere was recently released by West Ham and now finds himself without a club.
However, earlier in his career the midfielder was tipped for stardom by many, including Fabregas.
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Speaking to the Daily Mail, Fabregas discussed his former team-mate Wilshere and also singled out two more British stars who suffered due to injuries.
“He was just 16 when he first came to train with us and I was like: ‘Wow this guy is good, strong, sharp,'” the Spaniard said.
“It’s a big shame what has happened to him, I feel sorry because he could have been a proper English legend of the game.
“We always talk about how British players would adapt to teams in Europe – I always believed that Jack was one of the few Brits who could have made it big time at Real Madrid or Barcelona.
“Same with Aaron Ramsey and Gareth Bale. These guys are so talented, without injuries they could have done much more.”
Bale recently returned to England following seven years in La Liga with Real Madrid, whilst Ramsey moved to Juventus in the summer of 2019.
Wilshere, meanwhile, finds himself in search of a club.
Wilshere’s injury-plagued career
Capped 34 times by England, he made his breakthrough aged 16 with the Gunners. When he debuted aged 16 years and 256 days old, he was the youngest player in club history to play in the league.
He subsequently won the PFA Young Player of the Year Award in 2010-11 and was nominated to the PFA Team of the Year in that same year.
His injury nightmare began the following year, in which he did not play a single game because of stress fracture in his ankle. In total, the problem would keep him out for 17 months.
Although he had two campaigns in which he played regularly, he continued to be troubled by injuries and after missing the vast majority of the 2015/16 season because of a hairline crack in his calf bone left Arsenal on loan for Bournemouth in 2016/17.
Upon his return to the Emirates, he made 38 outings but he left the club when his contract expired at the end of that campaign.
He signed a three-year deal with West Ham, but after making only 19 Premier League appearances in two years was released in October to allow him to find a new club.
