Jack Wilshere has picked Mikel Arteta over Arsene Wenger as the manager who most inspired him to look towards a career in coaching.
The Englishman is set to be a free agent again when his contract at AGF Aarhus expires this summer. For now, he is back at Arsenal taking his coaching badges as he weighs up his options for finding another new club.
Wilshere's spell in Denmark was successful as he notched three assists in 15 games to help Aarhus to avoid relegation. Before travelling to Scandinavia, the midfielder spent several months training with Arsenal to maintain his fitness, as well as coaching in the club's academy.
And it was during that spell that the former England international was inspired to begin taking his coaching badges. He credits former team-mate and now Arsenal boss Arteta as the main influence behind that decision.
“I was coaching every day with the under-18s and under-23s. I loved every minute of it. When I was a player under Arsene Wenger I never really wanted to be a coach, and I never looked at him like that," Wilshere told the Daily Telegraph.
"I just listened to him and learned from him that way. But when I first started coaching the one I was watching was Mikel. He helped, along with the young players, to inspire me to want to be a coach.
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“I was obviously a little bit worried, a little bit scared about the future. I didn’t know what it would look like for me. And then when I was coaching on a day-to-day basis, it changed for me. I really enjoyed it. I could see myself doing it. I saw a future for me in it.”
Wilshere has been so inspired by Arteta that he is now open to the idea of retiring to pursue a career as a coach. While he admitted that he understands he needs to start from the bottom, he is keen to get started.
“If a coaching opportunity came up, I would not be sad to say ‘right, that’s it, I’m done with playing’... that decision might be in a week. It might be in two years," he added when asked about his future plans.
"I have got a big desire to be a coach and to become successful at that. You look at the managers who have been successful in the last five or six years and they started young. I just think, why not?
“I would love to sit here and say I want to be England manager, I want to be Arsenal manager. But I am not stupid enough to think that just happens. You have to go and start somewhere, build yourself up.
"I just feel like there is something still in me that wants to get to a high level, and that probably won’t ever be as a player again. So if I can do that as a coach, why not? I don’t think I will ever accept it until I have reached [those levels] as a coach.”
