Jack Wilshere has said he is "looking forward to being involved more" with Arsenal's academy system as the former midfielder helped the Under-17s recently.
The 29-year-old has been back training with the Gunners in order to maintain his fitness levels as he searches for a new club following his release from Bournemouth over the summer.
Wilshere, though, is helping out with Arsenal's academy and he was a coach on Tuesday evening as the under-17s played in the London Cup.
"Really enjoyed being part of the U17 coaching team last night in the London Cup," Wilshere wrote on Instagram.
"Thought the boys were brilliant and played some really good football. Looking forward to being involved more!"
Mikel Arteta, who played with Wilshere during his Arsenal days, recently opened up on the former England international and spoke about his desire to pick up some coaching badges - making his enjoyment of helping out with the academy even more understandable.
"What you should believe is that we want to help Jack prepare for his next stage, physically, mentally," Arteta told Arsenal.com.
"He wants to do his coaching badges again and we are prepared to fulfil all the needs that he wants.
"That is basically the idea and it is no further than that.
"We had a conversation with Jack and understand the needs that he has, the period that he is going through and I think everyone at the club agreed it was the right moment to help him."
Recently, Wilshere was asked by Sky Sports News about the possibility of an early retirement from playing football, but completely ruled that out.
"At the moment, I am doing my coaching badges and the club is helping me with them and I am helping some of the academy kids out as well," the former Gunners star said.
“It is certainly something I enjoy and maybe something to look at in the future but for now I still want to play.
“I feel like I still have a lot to give and something to prove which is why I don’t want to finish playing now and start a coaching career just yet.
“It’s nice to be back seeing some old faces who I spent a lot of my life with.
“Fitness-wise I am getting there and it’s great to be back training with good players and the quality is only going to be beneficial for me moving forward.
“I’m there [at Arsenal] until January and there’s no news on any clubs but hopefully something will come up then.”
