The last week or so must have been a bit of a rollercoaster ride for the Arsenal and England star Jack Wilshere. From being about to start in the Community Shield clash against Wembley to picking up an injury that meant he missed the curtain raiser at Wembley was only the start.
Then we had the good news from Arsene Wenger that his ankle problem was just a minor knock that would keep the midfielder out of action for just a few days, but that was closely followed by the dramatic revelation that Wilshere had damaged his fibula and could be out for months again.
While this was a big blow for the Arsenal fans, it must have been devastating to the player, especially after the talk in the football media was all about him being injury prone and whether he would ever have a decent season of games.
As reported by The Mirror, Wenger has admitted that this really hit Wilshere hard, but he has been cheered up hugely by the latest news on his ankle. The boss revealed that although there is a crack in his bone, it is just a hairline fracture and will only need a bit of time to heal.
The Frenchman said, “It’s bad luck, purely accidental. It’s a hairline crack in his fibula. It’s in the region where they took the screws off so I believe it’s a straightforward bone injury, which means there’s no surprise there.
“He just needs time to heal. The news see got yesterday was that it could be much shorter than expected because he’s two weeks in a boot and then maybe after that he can practice straight away again.
“Jack is of course down but the good news yesterday helped him to cope with it.
“You never get used to that. When you play football you never get used to your body letting you down. The positive thing in this injury is that it’s not a recurrence of one of his former injuries.
“The positive news with Jack is that the history doesn’t play a big part in his head when he come back. He plays with the same confidence and desire as before. It’s difficult. We have all been at that age when you love to play football, and when you cannot get up in the morning and play it’s mentally difficult.”
So no surgery for Jack, which means that he could be ready to play again in a few weeks. Looking at the schedule of Arsenal games, the fourth league game away to Newcastle looks too soon and the international break is after that so hopefully he will miss that and be back fit and ready for the home game with Stoke on September 12th and the first Champions League game the following week.