Arsenal fear Jack Wilshere will need ankle surgery, which could rule him out for up to four months.
The England midfielder limped off during Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat by Manchester United on Saturday after a challenge by Paddy McNair.
Wilshere, 22, left the Emirates without crutches, raising hopes that the injury might not be serious, but he in fact suffered ligament damage to his left ankle. He will have a further assessment on Thursday when he is due to see an ankle specialist. Surgery would probably sideline him until March, but even without an operation he will miss up to three months.
Jack Wilshere could be out for up to four months after damaging his left ankle on Saturday
Wilshere (left) suffered ankle ligament damage following Manchester United's Paddy McNair's tackle
Perhaps the only positive from Wilshere’s latest injury is that it did not occur on his already troublesome right ankle. ‘It does not look good,’ admitted Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.
‘There is no bone damage but there is ligament damage. It is just how [long] it is, which we should know next week.
‘It is so sad because he just came back and had found his mobility. I hope it will not be surgery, just in a boot, but it will be a few weeks.’
Wenger, speaking as he planned for Wednesday's Champions League clash at home to Borussia Dortmund, was unhappy with McNair’s challenge but refused to criticise the United youngster.
The challenge left Wilshere on the pitch in agony as he now faces the possibility of undergoing surgery
The 22-year-old's (bottom) injury adds to a miserable run of luck for the Gunners
The Arsenal manager said: ‘The tackle caught him from the side, just when he had moved the ball a bit forwards too much. Then, when he dived to make the pass, McNair came in to make the tackle and took him from the back and the side.
‘When you see the picture, it is very bad. I don’t think it was a tackle with the desire to hurt. I think he went for the ball, but it was a late tackle; a tackle which a young player can do. It was a bad foul.’
Wilshere’s stricken state heaps misery on a terrible few weeks for Arsenal. They fell to two successive Premier League defeats and let slip a 3-0 lead against Anderlecht in their previous Champions League game to draw. The discontent caused by their worst start to a Premier League season was underlined this week by the club’s second largest shareholder, Alisher Usmanov.
Usmanov aimed stinging criticism at Wenger’s team, and also claimed the manager is not learning from his mistakes.
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