Wilshere dreams of England captaincy

“I want to captain Arsenal and I want to captain England,” he told The Sun. “That definitely appeals to me. It’s my ultimate dream. People say players are no longer bothered about wearing the England shirt.

“But for me it’s the pinnacle of my job because club rivalries go out of the window and the entire nation comes together behind you — it’s the best feeling.”

“England have a fantastic captain in Steven Gerrard and I assume Wayne Rooney is the next in line. We’ve got a lot of big characters — but if I was ever offered the chance to captain England it’d be the ultimate honour.”

Injuries have restricted Wilshere to just two appearances for England under Hodgson but he praised the 65-year-old for changing the atmosphere within the squad.

“The whole mood has changed in the camp,” he added. “No disrespect to Fabio Capello because he gave me my first cap and I liked him, but it just changes everything when an Englishman takes charge.

“The style is different, the tactics, the whole atmosphere. I think it’s changed for the better.

“We still have a lot of work to do to qualify for next year’s World Cup finals. But we’re still in control of our own fate.”

An ongoing ankle injury has ruled the 21-year-old out of England’s friendlies with Republic of Ireland and Brazil but the midfielder is confident he will be ready for pre-season training with Arsenal.

“I’m having an operation this week to deal with the irritating scar tissue caused by the screws, but it’s a minor process and I’ll only be rested up for a fortnight,” he added.