Jack Wilshere is about to be appointed as Arsenal’s new under-18 head coach after he retired from his playing career at the age of 30.
The former Arsenal and England midfielder announced on Friday that he will retire and says he has “lived my dream” as a footballer.
Wilshere told Telegraph Sport earlier this year that he accepts that he has not reached his full potential as a player, but now wants to do that as a coach.
His imminent appointment to Arsenal’s academy marks the first formal step on that journey, and it comes after he first tasted youth team coaching at the club last season.
Wilshere trained with the Arsenal first team last year and also worked with the academy players. He has said those experiences and watching former team-mate Mikel Arteta, now Arsenal’s manager, made him want to become a coach.
The midfielder was regarded as one of the brightest talents of his generation after breaking through to the Arsenal first team as a teenager. His career was plagued by a series of injury problemshowever, and his last club as a player was AGF Aarhus in Denmark.
‘I look back on my career with pride’
In a statement, he said: “Today I am announcing that I am retiring from playing professional football. It has been an incredible journey with so many incredible moments and I feel privileged to have been able to experience everything that I have experienced during my career.
“From the little boy kicking a ball in the garden to captaining my beloved Arsenal and playing for my country in a World Cup. I have lived my dream.
“Honestly, it was hard to accept that my career has slipped lately for reasons beyond my control, when I felt like I still had so much to give.
“Having played at the very highest level, I’ve always had such huge ambitions in the game and if I’m honest I didn’t expect to be in this position sometimes.
“But now that I’ve had time to think and talk to those closest to me, I know now is the right time and despite the difficult moments, I look back on my career with great pride on what I’ve achieved .”
Wilshere made 34 appearances for England in his career, scoring twice and winning two FA Cup trophies as an Arsenal player. He also had spells at Bolton Wanderers, Bournemouth and West Ham United.
He told Telegraph Sport in May: “I just feel there’s still something in me that wants to get to a high level, and that probably never will be as a player. So if I can do that as a coach, why not?
“I don’t think I’ll ever accept it until I’ve reached it” [those levels] as a trainer. It’s hard to accept and that’s why I still have a great burning desire in me to be successful in the game.”