Wilshere admits addiction to Twitter

Since joing the micro-blogging social medium, the 19-year-old has amassed close to 500,000 followers, having been introduced to the fad by his club captain, Cesc Fabregas.

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“I’d seen Cesc go on it and I thought I’d have a go,” he says in the June issue of FourFourTwo, out now.

“Then it went crazy. After a month, I had 100,000 followers. The more followers I got, the more addicted I got. I was tweeting all day.”

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Wilshere is part of an ever-growing number of professional footballers on Twitter, who use the site to pass time and engage with supporters – something that the Gunners’ starlet enjoys and believes is important.

“I read all of the fans’ tweets after a game: what was good about the way Arsenal played today, what was bad,” he says.

“It’s important to get that side of the game but also their side of life, because it brings footballers closer to fans. It’s important for us to stay in touch with them.”

As a result of its popularity, the Football Association are keen on monitoring tweets, with many clubs contemplating banning their players from using Twitter.

This season alone has seen players including Ryan Babel, Carlton Cole and Danny Gabbidon reprimanded for inappropriate comments posted on the site.

Wilshere himself - who joked on April 1 that he had been told by Emirates Stadium supremo Arsene Wenger that he was due to be sold in the summer - has also fallen foul of the FA, after his criticism of what he perceived to be “inconsistent refereeing” during Arsenal’s 4-4 draw away at Newcastle.

He later took to Twitter to condemn Barry Ferguson, after television replays showed the Scottish midfielder patting defender Laurent Koscielny on the head, after the Frenchman’s last minute error handed Birmingham City the League Cup in February.

However, despite his comments causing some debate at the time, Wilshere says he has no qualms about expressing his views, insisting that they were based around what he believed to be the truth.

“I do regret the April Fool one because I put it up after midday and everyone told me I was the fool!” he says.

“But I don’t regret the referee one because it was my opinion, nor the Barry Ferguson one because what I wrote was true.”

The full in-depth interview with Jack Wilshere can be found in the June issue of FourFourTwo – out now – in which the midfielder talks about his loan move to Bolton and his love of both Paolo Di Canio and Twitter!. The issue also features exclusive one-on-ones with Neymar, Niall Quinn, DJ Campbell and Luis Fabiano.

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Gregg Davies

Gregg Davies is the Chief Sub Editor of FourFourTwo magazine, joining the team in January 2008 and spending seven years working on the website. He supports non-league behemoths Hereford and commentates on Bulls matches for Radio Hereford FC. His passions include chocolate hobnobs and attempting to shoehorn Ronnie Radford into any office conversation.