Jack Wilshere injured: Arsenal 'fuming' over Daniel Agger challenge that has put midfielder's World Cup chances in doubt

Arsenal are believed to be fuming over Daniel Agger’s challenge on England midfielder Jack Wilshere that has left the Gunners midfielder with a hairline fracture in his foot, condemning him to at least six weeks on the sidelines and putting his World Cup participation in jeopardy.

Wilshere suffered the injury in the 12th minute of England’s 1-0 victory over Denmark, when the two went in for a 50/50 challenge in which Wilshere clearly came off second best. However, after initially going down and screaming out in agony, Wilshere informed England head physio Gary Lewin, formerly of Arsenal, that he was good to continue, and played in until he was substituted in the 59th minute.

The Daily Mail claim that the Gunners’ hierarchy contacted each over on Wednesday night to question why Wilshere was allowed to continue, although it soon came to light that it was the midfielder decision to carry on despite his discomfort, while The Sun are reporting that the club will demand up to £600,000 in compensation for losing one of their most influential players for the season run-in.

It is not believed that Wilshere aggravated the injury in the ensuing 47 minutes that he remained on the pitch, but the north London club are said to be very angry that he was not hauled off regardless given the match being an international friendly and not a competitive fixture. Wilshere’s below-par form of late could have been a reason as to why he chose to stay on the pitch, given that some have called his World Cup inclusion into question even before the fracture.

Arsenal have maintained close ties with both the FA's head of medical services Dr Ian Beasley and Lewin from their time with the club, and it is because of this that their anger is director more towards Agger for the challenge rather than the England physio team.

Agger himself has described the challenge as a “50/50”, and on first viewing it looked neither reckless nor dangerous, while Wilshere admitted after the match that "It is a bit sore, but just a bruise. I have had a scan already and I will be all right.”

He also stressed that Agger was not to blame after Wednesday’s match, claiming that it was a fair challenge between two equally committed players, and that he would’ve been injured further had he tried to pull out when it was too late.

“When I was going for it I thought, 'I'm going to get this', and then about a step before, I thought, 'No, I'm not',” said Wilshere. “But I'm not going to pull out of a tackle. If I had pulled out I would have got hurt even more.

“But that's football. Agger is a committed player, he has shown that for Liverpool, and I'm a committed player as well. It was one of those. We were both going to go for it, and unfortunately I was the one who came out a little bit worse.”