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Arsène Wenger and Jack Wilshere
Arsène Wenger has indicated Jack Wilshere is likely to return for Arsenal at the end of February. Photograph: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images
Arsène Wenger has indicated Jack Wilshere is likely to return for Arsenal at the end of February. Photograph: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images

Arsène Wenger confident Jack Wilshere will be back in time for Euro 2016

This article is more than 8 years old
Wilshere has not kicked a ball this season after fracturing his fibula
Wenger believes England are contenders to win tournament

Arsène Wenger is confident Jack Wilshere will recover fitness and form in time to feature at Euro 2016 – and he believes the Arsenal midfielder could even be part of an England squad who win the tournament.

Wilshere has not kicked a ball so far this season after he fractured his fibula on the eve of the Community Shield, which was the latest serious injury to blot his career. He underwent surgery in mid-September because of a slow healing response and it was hoped he would be back by Christmas.

The comeback estimates have fluctuated and Wenger now says it will be February at the earliest, with the suggestion being it will be towards the end of that month. The Arsenal manager said on Boxing Day that Wilshere’s rehabilitation was “going slowly”. He has yet to return to full training.

England face Germany and Holland in warm-up friendlies on 26 and 29 March and Roy Hodgson, ideally, would like the players he takes to France for the finals to be fit by then. It means Wilshere is in a race against time with little scope for further setbacks but Wenger, who has agreed a £7m deal to sign the Egypt international Mohamed Elneny from Basel subject to the player being granted a work permit, is optimistic the player will be back, and in good time.

“You know that I’m an optimist and I always think: ‘OK. It’s true that if you look at the number of games he has played in recent years, it is not many.’ But I hope at some stage that will stop because he is young. I hope I am right,” he said.

“I have spoken to him about his latest setback. When you love football and at his age, when you wake up in the morning and you can’t practise, that’s terrible. They need support and I try to give it to him. But Jack is strong and he is dealing with that. He started at 17 and played every single game and, suddenly, it stopped. So I believe that can make you stronger.”

England have been drawn at Euro 2016 in Group B with Wales, Russia and Slovakia and Wenger, who always wants the nation in which he has made his home for the past 20 years to do well, sees no reason why Hodgson’s team should not go deep into the tournament.

“Can England win it? They can, of course,” Wenger said. “Why not? To not get out of the qualification stage, you really need to be suicidal because 16 teams out of 24 qualify and the best [four] thirds go through, so you don’t imagine England don’t qualify. After that, who are your main opponents? Germany, Spain and France. But I don’t rule England out. They are not the first favourites but they are in the second tier.

“If things go well, they have a bunch of young players … I said the other day when we played against Bournemouth there were five British players who played: Ramsey, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Chambers, Gibbs and Walcott. They are all young, all talented.”

Wilshere’s contract expires in 2018 but Wenger suggested he would make a “special case” when it came to negotiating fresh terms. “I want Jack to stay here,” Wenger said. “He is a special case because he is a special talent and he comes out of the club. And he is an England international. I hope his injuries will stop at some stage.”

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