The embarrassing reason why Wilshere asked Fabregas to get Messi’s shirt in 2011

Now 25-years-old, the combative midfielder was once tipped as the future of English football but has never quite reached his potential due to injuries.

But now he’s injury free and out to prove a point: that he’s still the same exciting player he was in his teenage years.

Wilshere remains a fan favourite amongst Arsenal fans, who will always remember his virtuoso performance against Barcelona in the 2010/11 Champions League.

He was only 19 at the time but dominated in the middle of the park against arguably the world’s best football team at the time.

More impressive still was that Wilshere’s main opponents throughout the 90 minutes were Lionel Messi, Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets.

Despite the unenviable task at hand, Wilshere was nothing short of incredible and gave a midfield masterclass.

Whether it was retaining the ball, winning it back or starting an attack, everything the Englishman touched turned into gold at the Emirates Stadium.

It’s no surprise, then, that he was given the Man of the Match award. Arsenal also won 2-1 on the night thanks to goals from Robin van Persie and Andrey Arshavin.

Praise was inevitably heaped on Wilshere for his display, but that wasn’t the only reward he got from the game.

The teenager walked away from the game holding both Xavi and Messi’s shirts.

However, there was something slightly embarrassing about the way Wilshere managed to get Messi’s famous No.10 jersey at full-time.

According to Cesc Fabregas, Wilshere was too scared to approach the Argentine, so he asked him to do it instead.

Wilshere posted the following picture on Twitter after the game:

To which Fabregas cheekily responded: “Can’t believe I had to go to get Messi’s shirt for u [sic]. U were so scared. You were MOTM so next time please ask urself!”

Wilshere is renowned for having no fear on the football pitch, but even he was shy when it came to asking arguably the world’s best player for his shirt.

In an interview with Match of the Day magazine two years later, Wilshere admitted Fabregas got Messi’s jersey for him but didn’t mention anything about being scared.

“I asked Xavi for his but he had the hump a bit,” said Wilshere. “So he just threw me his shirt and strolled off.

“I asked Cesc Fabregas to get me Messi’s because they’re good friends, and he did.”