Former Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere has held talks with the north London side on one of its vacant academy coaching roles.
Under 23 manager Per Mertesacker is seeking replacements following the exit of both Kevin Betsy, manager of the Under 23s and Dan Micciche, head coach of the Under 18s. The 30-year-old is still believed to have aspirations of playing but the Evening Standard reports that Wilshere has held talks with former team-mate Mertesacker on the two vacant positions.
Discussions are believed to be at an early stage and the club are also looking at internal candidates, the report adds.
The 30-year-old is currently without a team following a brief spell in Denmark with Aarhus.
“I’ve been doing as much coaching as possible,” he told Arsenal’s website.
“Obviously, if the manager needs a player and they’re training at the same time, it was quite difficult, but actually, because of Covid it worked out quite nice that I was training in the morning with the first team and then coaching in the afternoon with the under 18s with Dan, Max, Chris and again, they’ve been really good.”
“I feel even in a short amount of time I’ve improved so much as a coach, I’ve learnt so much about the coaching side of the game, I’ve really enjoyed it.”
The former Arsenal midfielder has spent plenty of time around Arsenal’s London Colney base in recent seasons, training with the first team last season while also helping the U23 and U18 set-ups as he looked for a new team.