Jack Wilshere has been ruled out of action for three weeks at least, although manager Arsene Wenger has allayed fears that it is a relapse of the ankle injury that has plagued him for the past two years, with the midfielder suffering an injury on his opposite foot.
Reports this morning did suggest that the England International would be out for a significant length of time with rumours he had injured the same foot that kept him out of action for 17 months.
Wenger has confirmed that his talismanic midfielder will be unavailable for selection until at least April, but dismissed the growing speculation that the 21-year-old suffered a relapse in his ankle injury.
The injury does not only come as a major blow for Arsenal’s Champions League qualification hopes but England have been dealt a blow too. Roy Hodgson had named Wilshere in his squad to face both San Marino and Montenegro in the world cup qualifiers but he has now been pulled out with his latest injury. Wilshere has been tipped as a Steven Gerrard replacement over the coming years but the England set up has seen less of Wilshere that Arsenal have in the last two years.
Wenger told a press conference today that Wilshere will miss the return leg in the Champions League clash with Bayern Munich, which the Gunners trail 3-1.
“Jack Wilshere is out of the Munich game,” Wenger told the press conference on Tuesday morning. “He has an inflamed ankle, the other ankle to the one he injured.
“He will be out for three weeks and will not be available for Munich, Swansea and not for England. Hopefully for the Premier League he will miss only one game. After is an international break. We can slowly prepare him.”
As if losing Wilshere wasn’t bad enough, the Gunners may be without Bacary Sagna and Lukas Podolski may miss the chance to face his former club again, as he is struggling to be fit in time.
