Jack Wilshere revealed that he reached out to his former Arsenal team-mate Mikel Arteta for advice before agreeing his first permanent managerial post with boyhood club Luton Town.
Wilshere was unveiled as the Hatters’ new head coach on Monday, following Gunners boss Arteta in making the transition from playing to management.
Despite serving a spell as interim manager at Norwich and working as a coach in Arsenal’s academy setup, Wilshere looked to Arteta for reassurance before agreeing to take the helm at Kenilworth Road.
“I spoke to Mikel and asked when he knew he was ready,” said Wilshere. “He laughed and said, ‘You just have to jump in and swim as hard as you can’.
“He's obviously done that really well (at Arsenal) and I was close to that. This feels a little bit similar to that.”
Wilshere and Arteta shared the pitch 57 times in their Arsenal careers, winning the FA Cup and Community Shield together in 2014.
Now, though, 33-year-old Wilshere is hoping to match his managerial legacy. Arteta took over a struggling Arsenal in 2019, also a managerial debutant, and have turned them into one of Europe’s top sides.
Wilshere joins Luton after the club suffered back-to-back relegations and now sit 11th in League One, less than two years after playing a first Premier League campaign.
Wilshere continued: “Of course it's a different level, but when Mikel went in, it wasn't a nice place at Arsenal.
“The fans weren't sure what was happening, and he built complete unity and trust in what he was doing.
"Because I played with him, number one, and a lot of the players who played with him said they saw he was going to be a coach, and I was exactly the same.
"Then he invited me back when I was really struggling to find a club, and as he said, I was part of it, and he made me feel part of it. So, honestly, what he's done for this club, I'm so happy for him, so happy for the staff.
“I want to give the Luton fans a team they can be proud of, and the work to do that starts today.”
