Jack Wilshere won’t be returning to Arsenal to link up with the club’s academy, after deciding to focus on senior management instead, according to reports.
Jack Wilshere working as a coach at Norwich City (Photo via PA Media)
Photo via PA Media
Jack Wilshere has been in talks with Arsenal over a potential return to the club in recent weeks, with conversations centring around the midfielder taking up a new coaching role with the academy.
Wilshere had previously coached the Arsenal u18s before leaving for Norwich City, but the expectation was that he’d be working with the u21s this time around.
Yet Sami Mokbel of the BBC broke the news on Wednesday that Wilshere had decided against the opportunity, choosing instead to focus on breaking into senior management.
Jack Wilshere working as a coach at Norwich City (Photo via Norwich City FC on Twitter)
Photo via Norwich City FC on Twitter
James McNicholas confirms for The Athletic that Wilshere is no longer in contention to return, with Max Porter the frontrunner to become Arsenal’s u21 head coach.
McNicholas writes that talks between Wilshere and Arsenal initially focused on the u21 head coach role, following Mehmet Ali’s summer departure.
Yet the offer ended up being for Wilshere to take responsibility for the u19s in the UEFA Youth League and the u21s in the EFL Trophy, as well as supporting the u21 coaching team in other competitions.
That was evidently a less appealing proposal to Wilshere, and Arsenal couldn’t reach an agreement on that basis.
Jack Wilshere managing the Arsenal u18s (Photo via Arsenal Academy on Twitter)
Photo via Arsenal Academy on Twitter
Wilshere’s return would have been a boost for the young players in the Arsenal academy, but there was also understandable hesitance in some circles.
After all, it was only recently that the former Gunner left the Arsenal u18s in the middle of their season for an assistant manager role at Norwich City.
Wilshere is clearly eyeing senior positions now. There would be no guarantees that he’d stick around for longer this time if another opportunity presented itself in the middle of the 2025/26 campaign.
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