Football
ESPN staff 9y

Arsenal's Jack Wilshere hits back at newspaper's 'brittle ankles' claim

Jack Wilshere has responded angrily to an article posted online by the Daily Mirror that described the Arsenal midfielder as having "the world's most brittle ankles."

Wilshere, 22, has been ruled out three months after undergoing surgery this week on ankle ligaments damaged during last Saturday's 2-1 defeat to Manchester United when he was tackled by defender Paddy McNair.

It is the latest setback in a career that has been blighted by similar injuries, with Physioroom.com reporting that this is the 13th time the England international has been sidelined with problems with a foot or ankle.

On Thursday, the Mirror's online football brand Row Zed published an article titled "11 things stronger than Jack Wilshere's ankles," which drew an angry response from the player on Friday morning.

In a post on his Instragram account that included a picture of McNair's tackle on him, Wilshere wrote: "We all know the media like to talk nonsense, not all of them, but most! And most of it I can take... however after being shown an article in @DailyMirror saying I have 'Worlds most Brittle ankles'. @bigrichinnes clearly doesn't know what 'brittle' means, as this picture clearly shows' most people/players would have broken their ankle if someone tackled them like this.

"Luckily I have 'loose joints', not brittle' and only damaged ligaments. #Fool #GetTheFacts."

He then posted another picture of the same tackle from a different angle with the words: "Here's another one for you @bigrichinnes please feel free to challenge what I'm saying! #LazyJournalism."

Wilshere is set to miss key Premier League trips to Liverpool (Dec. 21), Manchester City (Jan. 18) and Tottenham (Feb. 7), as well as the first leg of the Gunners' last-16 tie in the Champions League and several rounds of the FA Cup as he recovers from his latest operation.

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