“If you touched him he’d go down” – Jack Wilshere opens up how he ‘snapped’ after ‘beef’ with Barcelona star during Arsenal days

Jack Wilshere has revealed that he used to have 'a beef' with Sergio Busquets when the two faced off during Arsenal vs Barcelona games. The former Gunners star said while the Spaniard was a great player, he would dive around too much.

Wilshere played for Arsenal at a young age against Barcelona in the 2010-11 Champions League and impressed everyone watching. The Englishman was touted for big things, but injuries took a toll on his career.

Now without a club, Wilshere is working with the London side's digital team and spoke about the game at Camp Nou on talkSPORT. Remembering the match, he highlighted his 'beef' with Busquets and said:

"We knew we had to get in their faces, be a bit nasty and stop them playing. I had a little bit of beef with Busquets. You know what he was like, great player, one of the best. But if you touched him he'd go down. He did it about five times to me and in the end I just snapped. I can't repeat what I said! There's a picture of him in my face and he weren't happy. He was probably thinking, 'Who's this little kid telling me?' It was just mind games in the second leg. We then got robbed and Van Persie got sent off for kicking the ball after eight seconds. Arsene was fuming and I've never seen him like that."

Wilshere joined Arsenal's academy in 2001 and made his senior team debut seven years later at the age of 16, becoming the youngest-ever league debutant for the club. He won two FA Cups and one League Cup with the Gunners and made 197 appearances across competitions, scoring 14 goals and assiting 30 times.

Barcelona players were fuming with Arsenal's Wilshere

Jack Wilshere has revealed that Barcelona players were absolutely livid with him in the infamous Champions League game played in the 2010-11 season.

The former Arsenal player said:

"They were fuming, Busquets was fuming with me. When I was young I used to give it at that age. On the pitch I used to let them have it. The other two, Xavi and Iniesta, I didn't because I had too much respect for them. But Busquets, do you remember when he used to dive around? Great player, but he used to make the most out of tackles."

The Gunners lost the game 4-3 on aggregate despite winning the home leg 2-1. Wilshere left the club in 2018 and has since played for West Ham United and Bournemouth. He has been without a club since the end of last season.

Wilshere is still looking for a club and has not hung up his boots. He was touted to rejoin the Gunners, but the deal did not materialize.