Arsenal are set to announce that a former player who racked up over 200 appearances for the club as their new U18s Head Coach.
An exclusive report from The Athletic’s David Ornstein has outlined that Jack Wilshere will take his first official coaching role after he called time on his playing days.
On Friday afternoon the 30-year-old posted an emotional message across his social media platforms confirming that after much consideration, he was ready for something new.
And that comes in the form of the lead coaching role of Arsenal’s U18s, a team that has supported the development of many coaches including Steve Bould and Freddie Ljungberg.
The report goes on to state that Adam Birchall and Julian Gray will support Wilshere whilst current U18’s boss, Mehmet Ali, is in line for a promotion to the U23’s.
It’s news that doesn’t come as too much of a shock after reports were leaked in June that Wilshere was heavily in consideration for the job after mutually terminating his contract with Danish side, Aarhus GF, where he achieved two assists from 14 appearances.
We also know that Wilshere has been working on his coaching badges since the 2016/17 campaign, so whilst this may come as a shock appointment, it’s always been in his plans.
Speaking back in May, Wilshere confirmed his desire to be making orders rather than taking them, “If a coaching opportunity came up, I wouldn’t be sad to say that’s it, I’m done”.
Having left Arsenal back in 2018, the Englishman has since gone on to feature for West Ham and Bournemouth, which then led to him being without a club at the start of the 2021/22 campaign.
Arsenal fans were left in huge anticipation back in October 2021 when Wilshere was invited back by Mikel Arteta in order to train and prepare for potential suitors.
Whilst every single press conference included a question on whether Arteta would sign Wilshere to play for the club, the Gunners manager was instrumental in getting his former teammate back on track.
During his short spell back at London Colney, Wilshere would often go along to U23 and U18 games as a supporter, which then developed into more of a backroom staff role.
In one last attempt to save his playing career, Wilshere hit us out of the blue with a move to Aarhus GF and after many Google searches, we followed his journey to Denmark.
Whilst it may not have been the most glamorous end to his playing days, Wilshere has to be commended for managing to go full circle and end up back at the club he loves so dearly.
A career that’s been plagued by injuries and lack of confidence which have affected his progression for both club and country, there was never any doubt over Wilshere’s football ability.
As Arsenal fans, he was a player we never wanted to leave. As a rival fan, he was a player you never wanted running at your defence.
Not many players join Arsenal as a nine-year-old and go on to feature so heavily for the first team at the tender age of just 18, where he put in that performance against Barcelona.
But amongst all the sadness, Wilshere will now look to follow in the footsteps of Per Mertesacker, Edu, Freddie Ljungberg and even Mikel Arteta who have continued their association with the club in a coaching/management capacity.