Jack Wilshere made 33 appearances for Arsenal last season Photo: Nike

Jack Wilshere says former Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fàbregas is the best player he has ever lined up with during his career.

The England international made a number of appearances alongside the Spaniard as he broke into the Gunners’ first team, before Fàbregas secured a transfer back to his boyhood club Barcelona in August 2011.

And Wilshere has revealed that he rates the 26-year-old midfielder as the best talent he has ever played with during the course of his young career.

“The best player I ever played with is probably Cesc Fàbregas,” Wilshere told Esquire Weekly.

“I only got to play with him for a year before he went back to Barcelona but I learnt so much from him – the way he knew what he was going to do with the ball before he got it and his passing – and he scored goals.

“Also, he grew up at Arsenal – he got in to the first team at a young age, which is something I wanted to do.”

Wilshere is currently on international duty with England as the Three Lions gear up for their World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Ukraine.

And the 21-year-old admits that it would be unthinkable for Roy Hodgson’s men to fail to qualify for next summer’s tournament in Brazil.

“As a footballing nation with the quality we have, we can’t think of anything else,” Wilshere said.

“We have got some tough qualifiers coming up, but we know if we win them, it’s in our hands. We will be in Rio and I think all the players are going to have to come together on that one.”

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