Jack Wilshere led Arsenal Under-18s to the final of the FA Youth Cup last season – Getty Images/David Price
Jack Wilshere is in contention for the head coach role at Major League Soccer side Colorado Rapids and has held talks over the position.
The 31-year-old former England midfielder has been the head coach of Arsenal Under-18s since last summer and could now make his first step into senior management if he is offered the job.
Arsenal and the Rapids are both owned by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment and the potential appointment of Wilshere would further strengthen the ties between the teams.
In January 2022, Arsenal signed defender Auston Trusty from the MLS side. Trusty has since been sold by Arsenal to Sheffield United in a deal worth around £5 million.
The appointment process for a new head coach for the Rapids is understood to be ongoing, with no decisions yet made.
Wilshere has made it clear that he one day intends to step up from youth coaching and take a senior role.
Earlier this year, Arsenal academy manager Per Mertesacker said of Wilshere: “His ambition naturally is one day to go somewhere and coach a first-team, but I’m not letting him at the moment.”
The Rapids are currently at the foot of the table in the Western Conference, having won only five of their last 32 matches. Robin Fraser, their previous head coach, left the club last month.
Wilshere has impressed as a coach since taking over Arsenal Under-18s, who reached the final of the FA Youth Cup under his guidance last season.
He said in April that coaching had given him back a “real, deep love for football” that he “did not know” he had lost. He has been trying to learn from the work of Mikel Arteta and has said that he sees football in the same way as the Arsenal manager, who was also his team-mate during their playing careers.
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