Jack Wilshere reveals to Mikel Obi ‘one of his biggest regrets’ at Arsenal

Former Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere has revealed to Nigerian football legend Mikel Obi one of his biggest regrets from his time at the Emirates Stadium, Soccernet.ng reports. 

Wilshere joined Arsenal’s academy at the age of nine and made his first-team debut in 2008 as the club’s youngest-ever league debutant at 16 years and 256 days.

Despite showing huge promise, Wilshere’s time at Arsenal was hampered by recurring injuries, particularly to his ankles, which limited his appearances in later years.

Speaking on the Obi One Podcast hosted by Mikel, Wilshere reflected on his early years with the Gunners and admitted Fàbregas was a player he truly admired and learned from.

“I trained with him a lot from when I was 16 to probably 20,” Wilshere said. “I broke into the team around 18 or 19, played with him for that year, and then he left for Barcelona. It’s one of my biggest regrets — I didn’t play with him for longer because I think he understood the game, man.”

Wilshere added that he believed Arsenal missed out on winning major trophies because key players like Fàbregas, Robin van Persie, and Santi Cazorla were not kept together for long enough.

“When Cesc left, we got Cazorla and Özil, but could you imagine if we had them all together? Van Persie left, we got Sanchez. If we could’ve just held on to them, we would have challenged and probably won it, in my opinion.”

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The 33-year-old retired from professional football in 2022 after injury struggles but has continued his footballing career through coaching.