Jack Wilshere's age, career, injuries and family life as ex-Arsenal star becomes Norwich manager

The former Arsenal and England midfielder has left his position as head coach of Arsenal’s under-18s , having guided them to the FA Youth Cup final last season, where they were beaten by West Ham.

Norwich are currently seventh in the Sky Bet Championship, just one point away from being in a play-offs position. Wilshere will inherit Johannes Hoff Thorup’s backroom staff, with Narcis Pelach having left to take over at Stoke City.

In the early 2010s, Wilshere was the name on everyone’s lips, touted as England’s next big thing. But many people don’t know about his personal life off the pitch, and just how many injuries blighted the 32-year-old’s career.

Career

Born in Stevenage, Wilshere started his junior career with Luton Town in 2001, before being snapped up by Arsenal’s academy within just a few months. At the same time, he was captaining his school football teams, idolising Paolo Di Canio as a boyhood West Ham fan.

Wilshere spent seven years developing through Arsenal’s youth system, making an immediate impression on youth coach Steve Bould and senior manager Arsene Wenger, before making his Premier League debut for the Gunners against Blackburn Rovers at the start of the 2008-09 season. At the time, he was Arsenal’s youngest debutant at 16 years and 256 days old.

In the 2010 season he was loaned out to Bolton Wanderers, returning having scored one goal in 14 appearances. It was at this point that the 20-year-old midfielder became a regular in Arsene Wenger’s starting line-up, and then-England manager Fabio Capello described him as “the future” as he handed him his debut for the Three Lions.

But in the years that followed, Wilshere was plagued by multiple injuries, and in 2016 was sent out on a season-long loan to AFC Bournemouth. After a two year stint at boyhood club West Ham, he joined the Cherries permanently in 2021, but only lasted one year at the south coast club. A 14-game stint at Danish Superliga side AGF followed, before Wilshere announced his retirement from football at the age of 30.

Injuries

Wilshere’s professional career was riddled with varying injuries, which sidelined him for large portions of the footballing season. It all started during Arsenal’s pre-season tour ahead of the 2011-12 season, where a match against New York Red Bulls ended prematurely for Wilshere when he picked up a stress fracture ankle injury. This put the midfielder out-of-action for the rest of the season, with manager Arsene Wenger telling the press that he would not rush Wilshere back into the fray.

Towards the end of the following season, Wilshere underwent “minor surgery” to remove a pin, which led to his minutes again being managed. But while playing for England early in 2014, a challenge from Denmark’s Daniel Agger left the midfielder with a hairline fracture on his left foot, sidelining him for another six weeks.

In November 2014, having won the Community Shield against Manchester City, Wilshere was injured in a game against Manchester United. This left him requiring surgery on his left ankle, which ruled him out for three months.

After making another comeback and scoring the goal of the season (for the second year in a row) in the 2014-15 season, and lifting the FA Cup with a 4-0 win against Aston Villa, pre-season again left Wilshere sidelined. This time, what started as a broken fibula that ruled him out for a few weeks, the England international required surgery that put him out for three months.

For a couple of years after that, Wilshere remained fit and healthy, somewhat reviving his career while on loan at AFC Bounemouth. But in April 2017, Wilshere clashed with Harry Kane in a match against Tottenham, causing a hairline fracture to his left fibula that ended his season.

In December 2017, Wilshere played a full 90 minutes for Arsenal in a 0-0 draw against West Ham - the first time he had played a full match since September 2014.

After moving to West Ham, Wilshere spent most of his time injured, playing just 19 games for the Hammers.

Family life

Jack Wilshere has four children - the first two, Archie and Delilah, came from his relationship with Lauren Neal. The pair separated in 2014, and three years later he started dating Andriani, whom he has since wed and had two more children with. Their names are Siena and Jack Jr.

Earlier this year, Wilshere revealed that Siena had required life-saving surgery for a hole in her heart. The youngster’s congenital heart defect led to a five-hour surgery, which the ex-Arsenal midfielder was “100 per cent certain” she would not survive.

Describing it as “five hours of hell” to the Sun, he said: “I had to drag my wife out of the anaesthetic room and we went to a room upstairs and we were just crying, both of us, for about 45 minutes. Going into ICU and seeing your daughter there sleeping, with all these wires...”

Fortunately, Siena did survive, and both Wilshere and his wife are now ambassadors for the British Heart Foundation.