Former Arsenal midfield star Jack Wilshere has revealed he is considering retirement at the age of 29.
Wilshere is without a club after being released by Bournemouth in the summer.
He admits to being ‘concerned’ about his future and admits he has asked his wife whether it is time to move into coaching.
But it is questions from his kids that Wilshere finds the most tricky to deal with.
He has Archie and Delilah from a previous relationship, and Siena and Jack Junior with wife Andriana.
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In an interview with The Athletic, the 34-cap England international explained: “My kids are at an age where they understand. Especially Archie, who’s nine.
“He’s actually having conversations with me, saying, ‘What about the MLS?’ or ‘Why aren’t you playing in La Liga?’
“He loves football. He knows everything about football. And it is difficult to explain to him. He’ll say to me, ‘How come no club wants you?’ I don’t know. But how do I explain that to him?
“They’ve got friends at school and you know what kids can be like, they can be quite brutal.
“‘Why is your dad not working? Is he not good enough? Is he not good at football?’ Yeah, that’s tough.”
Wilshere also recalls having to confront a parent of one of Archie’s classmates after the boy had taunted the footballer as ‘Jack Wheelchair’.
He insists it was not because it annoyed him, but because of the impact it had on his ‘upset’ son.
While Wilshere admits he has thought about moving into coaching, he has not given up hope of finding the right club – and that could be abroad.
The Londoner admits his tough record with injuries over the years could be putting off English clubs, and he feels he might get a fairer crack of the whip in another country.
He added: “I’ve said before that I’m open to going abroad. In fact, I probably want to go abroad. I want to try something different. I think it’ll be good for me, for my life, for my family.
“Have a fresh start somewhere where people, clubs, fans don’t think, ‘Oh, that’s Jack Wilshere. He’s going to get injured today’, or, ‘He’ll play five games and that’s it… waste of an investment.”
Wilshere left Arsenal for West Ham three years ago, but left just 12 months into a three-year deal, starting only six Premier League games.
He explained that although there was a contract offered to him by Arsene Wenger’s successor Unai Emery, there was no guarantee of first-team football.
That left him angry and he told his agents it was time to move – a decision he admits was ‘rash’ as he should have proved he was better than the other midfielders.
Wilshere, who contracted Covid-19 earlier this year, is training alone and trying to get back to full fitness.
But he insists he still has that ‘hunger’ to carry on in the Beautiful Game and that his next move will ‘not be about the money’ but the ‘feeling inside’.
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