Former Arsenal star and England international Jack Wilshere has announced his retirement from professional football at 30. Wilshere, whose career was riddled with injuries, last played for Aarhus Gymnastikforening on a short-term contract.
The Danish club announced they won’t renew his deal at the end of the 2021/22 season, following which he decided to hang up his boots.
The 30-year-old confirmed his retirement through an Instagram post, in which he wrote that even though his career petered out over the last few years, he has lived his dream.
“Today I am announcing my retirement from playing professional football: It has been an unbelievable journey filled with so many incredible moments and I feel privileged to have experienced all that I did during my career.
From being the little boy kicking a ball around in the garden to captaining my beloved Arsenal and playing for my country at a World Cup. I have lived my dream,”
he wrote.
Wilshere will return to his boyhood club following his retirement to take up the role of the Arsenal U18 head coach, reports The Athletic.
The Englishman was deemed the standout candidate in the interview processes to replace the recently departed Dan Micciche, having impressed those in higher positions at the club during the time he spent at their training ground in the past, learning the ropes of management and working on his coaching badges. Former Arsenal academy players Adam Birchall and Julian Gray will assist him in his new role.
Wilshere left his boyhood club Arsenal in the summer of 2018, a decade after he made his first senior team appearance, with 197 appearances and 14 goals.
Constant injury troubles meant that the English midfielder spent a significant time on the sidelines over the ten-year-long period but would later turn up at Premier League sides AFC Bournemouth and West Ham United.
