Sir Bobby Charlton cools hype over Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere

Sir Bobby Charlton has moved to cool the hype surrounding Jack Wilshere and has warned England fans not to pin all their hopes on the 21-year-old.

Wilshere has earned rave reviews this season for his impressive performances for Arsenal since returning from his lengthy injury lay-off in the autumn.

The midfielder has carried his form onto the international stage and was named man-of-the-match during England’s friendly against Brazil last month.

Wilshere, who is currently sidelined with an ankle injury, is widely tipped to be one of the Three Lions’ key players should England qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

But Manchester United legend Charlton, who has 106 England caps to his name, believes it is too soon to heap that kind of pressure on the midfielder.

“I think he’s just too young. It’s just too soon for him on the world stage,” Charlton is quoted as saying by the London Evening Standard.

“Arsenal have a lot of young players, and very good young players at that, but there’s something that’s just not quite right, it seems to me.

“Don’t get me wrong, Jack Wilshere is a great player but there are lots of great, even greater, players on the world stage, who are outperforming him.

“He’s still a young lad who needs more time and we’d be wrong to pin all our hopes and expectations on him.”