Arsenal and England midfielder Jack Wilshere always seems to find himself in the spotlight. The previous teenage soccer prodigy became Arsenal’s youngest ever player to feature for the storied club at just 16 years of age. Two seasons later, Wilshere’s stretch of outstanding play was good enough to see him win the PFA Young Player of the Year and be included in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year for the 2010-11 season.

Following a season-long absence due to an ankle fracture, Wilshere returned for the 2012-13 campaign and quickly regained his confidence on the pitch. The midfielder was given his first start for England since the ankle injury in February of 2013, against international giants Brazil. Wilshere not only performed well in the match, but outshined every player on the pitch and was awarded with the Man of the Match.

After the big game, Brazil and Barcelona defender Dani Alves was quoted to say, “(Wilshere) is a great player who we have met playing against Arsenal and without doubt he can reach the height of the players we have here at Barcelona like Xavi and (Andres) Iniesta. He has a lot of quality and a great personality. If I was given the chance to choose, he is a player that I would sign for Barcelona.”

Praise from his peers did not stop after the Brazil match. Ahead of Arsenal’s 2013 Champions League meeting with Bayern Munich, fellow midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger also commended Wilshere. The German international said, “If you look at Jack Wilshere, he’s an excellent player. In his position, he’s one of the best players there is. I would say that Wilshere has very good movement, he’s very dynamic and has a good left foot.”

The England man received high praise once again following his team’s 3-1 victory over rival Scotland Tuesday night at Celtic Park. John Cross of Daily Mirror said of Wilshere, “MotM (Man of the Match). His wonderful diagonal ball to set up Oxlade-Chamberlain’s header was the pass of the game. He is relishing this deep role for England.” The Daily Mail took their admiration of the midfielder a step further by saying, “His growing adeptness to his deeper midfield role demonstrated once again with his delightful through ball for Oxlade-Chamberlain’s goal. Rapidly becoming England’s best player.”

Despite a long run of outstanding play, Wilshere still appears to have his critics. The now 22-year-old is certainly a bit brash and has had some issues off of the pitch (smoking and reportedly attempting to spit on a taxi driver); however, no one can deny what Wilshere is doing on the pitch. The goal he scored against Norwich City last season was the epitome of the ultimate team goal (watch it here), and won the Premier League Goal of the Season award.

Although his personality can rub certain people the wrong way, both his club manager, Arsene Wenger, and his England manager, Roy Hodgson, have both proclaimed that he has the characteristics and personality to become captain of his national team one day.

When asked on the subject of Wilshere potentially becoming the England captain one day, Hodgson stated, “I would agree with Arsene Wenger and say Jack has got the qualities (to become captain), there’s no doubt about that. Wilshere has got the personality, the character and the quality to accept responsibility, to accept the pressure. I foresee a fantastic England career for him.”

While he may quite possibly have detractors for the duration of his career, Wilshere does not seem to be letting them affect his play on the pitch. Drowning out his critics with solid performance after solid performance, Wilshere is turning into the player that everyone suspected he would become when he was a teenage phenomenon in the Arsenal youth ranks.