'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
EPL midfielder Jack Wilshere opened up on his career so far in a wide-ranging chat with Robbie Savage for BBC 5 Live.
The former Arsenal midfielder was the special guest for the Welshman's weekly podcast and candidly shared his views on his injury-laden career in the EPL thus far.
Rio Ferdinand, who was last week's guess on the podcast, asked the EPL midfielder is his career would have turned out differently without recurring injuries.
EPL midfielder's refreshingly honest career assessment
While Wilshere was quick to acknowledge that he has suffered from several injuries, he added that the impact injuries that blighted him were beyond his control.
"I've still got something to give, I'm still in the EPL. It gets faster and faster every year and I still think my body can cope with it."
"When I'm finished, I'd probably think that I was injured too much and that's the truth. But most of them have been impact injuries that I had no control over"
"It's not like I didn't take care of myself well, went out and came and did my hamstring or something"
The midfielder, who currently plies his trade with West Ham United in the EPL, revealed the role former teammate Cesc Fabregas played in his younger days.
"Cesc gave me the best advice. He had just become captain and he used to give me good advice. He was someone I looked up to and when I broke into the team, he would help me in training. It's quote strange that we are good friends now, but I was starstruck by him before"
The EPL star's crowning moment arrived in 2011. As Arsenal faced Barcelona in the Champions League, Wilshere played a starring role as the Gunners recorded a 2-1 victory.
"It was a mad feeling, I was with Szczesny. We came through the ranks together and we lived together. We were sat there thinking we just beat Barca, because this is the team we grew up watching. It was an unreal feeling."
"Pep hammered me a week later by saying that we have loads of him in the B team! That put me down a little bit."
After bursting onto the scene at EPL club Arsenal, Wilshere secured a move to West Ham United in 2018. Aside from Andres Iniesta, Wilshere described former EPL stars Paul Scholes and Joe Cole as players he idolised as a young boy.
When asked by a fan about the reaction in the Arsenal camp when Robin van Persie sealed a controversial switch to Manchester United, the EPL midfielder claimed that the squad was devastated.
"When RVP, we were devastated. He scored 30 goals and was our captain, but he left to Manchester United who were one of our biggest rivals at the time."
"I've experienced that feeling before when Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri left and they were big players for us too. If we had kept that team together, we would have won the EPL title. Who knows what could have happened?"
While Wilshere's EPL adventure is far from finished, recurring injuries have proved to be detrimental to his career. Having made his EPL debut as a 16-year-old, the Englishman was all set to take world football by storm.
However, the former Arsenal's man EPL career has not gone as planned, as finds himself at West Ham aged 28 after being tipped for bigger things.
