Former Arsenal and England star Jack Wilshere has announced his retirement from football at the age of 30.

Wilshere said this week he was considering his options after he and Danish Superliga side AGF mutually parted ways, having spent less than five months with the club.

The midfielder spent 10 seasons with Arsenal after coming through the Premier League side's youth system and is reportedly set to re-join them as a youth coach.

He won the FA Cup twice with the Gunners and was named PFA Young Player of the Year as well as taking the club's player of the season award after a superb 2010-11 campaign.

After leaving Arsenal in 2018, Wilshere went on to represent West Ham and Bournemouth, with whom he had previously had a loan spell.

He also earned 34 caps for England across a six-year period, representing his country at two major tournaments including the 2014 World Cup.

But Wilshere struggled badly with injuries throughout his career and ultimately revealed in a statement on Friday that he felt the time had come to stop playing.

The player released a post on social media that was tagged with the comment: "I've lived my dream. Thank you all."

Wilshere wrote: "Today I am announcing my retirement from playing professional football.

"It has been an unbelievable journey filled with so many incredible moments and I feel privileged to have experienced all that I did during my career. 

"From being the little boy kicking a ball around in the garden to captaining my beloved Arsenal and playing for my country at a World Cup. I have lived my dream.

"In truth, it has been difficult to accept that my career has been slipping in recent times due to reasons outside of my control whilst feeling that I have still had so much to give.

"Having played at the very highest level I have always held such ambitions within the game and if I am truthful I did not envisage being in this position at times.

"However, having had time to reflect and walk with those closest with me I know that now is the right time and despite the difficult moments I look back on my career with great pride at what I have achieved.

"Playing at the very highest level with some of the best players in the world, winning FA Cups, captaining my club and representing my country were beyond my wildest dreams when I was a small boy growing up in Hitchin.

"I feel very fortunate to have had the career I've had but none of it would have been possible if it wasn't for the love and support of so many people."

After thanking friends, family and some former coaches, Wilshere added: "Words will never do justice to the love and thanks I have for the Boss, Arsene [Wenger], Pat Rice and Boro Primorac.

"Without your belief, support and guidance from the very first day we met I wouldn't have been able to become part of the Arsenal family.

"I'm forever grateful to you all. A huge thank you to the board, management and everyone else connected with Arsenal FC. Having joined the club at the age of seven years old you've become my extended family and thank you for everything."

Jack Wilshere is "considering all of my options" after the midfielder and Danish Superliga club AGF decided to mutually part ways after five months.

The former Arsenal player arrived with the club in February on a short-term deal until the end of the season, making 14 appearances for the club that finished one point clear of relegation.

Wilshere, 30, had been without a club since being released by Bournemouth following the 2020-21 Premier League season, and had been training with both Arsenal and Serie B club Como in an effort to stay sharp.

In an Instagram post on Wednesday, he thanked the Danish club for taking a chance on him and providing an opportunity to play once again.

"My time at [AGF] has come to an end," he wrote. "Myself and the club have mutually agreed it’s best for me to move on. 

"I would like to thank everybody at AGF for the support and confidence they gave me from day one. The club showed trust in me that not many others were willing to give. 

"Although results were hard to come by, the fans' support of me and the team was unbelievable. Thank you guys for welcoming me into your club and city. 

"I wish you all the best in the future. Personally I am considering all of my options."

AGF released a statement saying they "benefited from Jack Wilshere's great footballing and human qualities" and that "there has subsequently been a dialogue on continuing the cooperation, but after careful consideration, the parties have jointly come to the conclusion that the agreement will not be extended."

AGF's sporting director Stig Inge Bjornebye added: "We all want to thank Jack for the time he has been in AGF. It has been a great pleasure to work with him and experience him and share his experiences from a very nice and special career."

Mikel Arteta believes Arsenal will welcome Jack Wilshere back with open arms in future after the Gunners academy product joined Danish side AGF.

The 30-year-old signed for the Aarhus-based team on a short-term deal initially, but an option to extend that contract by one year exists, with Wilshere desperate to prove himself after falling off the footballing map.

Arsenal favourite Wilshere, who began his career with the Gunners and helped the club win the FA Cup twice, has been without a team since leaving Bournemouth at the end of last season.

He was a teenage wonder with Arsenal, making his debut as a 16-year-old in 2008, but injuries have blighted his career in recent years. Prior to making the move to Denmark, Wilshere had been training with Arsenal in an effort to build up his fitness.

Following completion of the deal, Arteta was asked about the prospect of Wilshere potentially returning in a coaching capacity, and the manager was unequivocal in his response.

"One hundred per cent," Arteta told reporters. "I think everyone at the club would be willing to open the doors for him and try to find a role for him that would work for everybody. I think that will happen naturally in the future.

"It's been great to have him, and I think I'm speaking on behalf of everybody and the club, it's been absolutely a pleasure to have Jack back.

"To enjoy watching him play next to us, to have him around, the inspiration that he is for all the young people. Hopefully, we can help him – we have helped him a little bit as well – because he had some doubts with what to do, whether to start coaching or continue playing.

"I think this group of players have given him again that necessity to experience on a daily basis how magnificent it is to feel like a football player, and I think he wants to experience that again. We wish him the best of luck."

Emile Smith Rowe was among the Arsenal players to wish Wilshere luck for his new adventure on Instagram this week, with the attacking midfielder following a similar route to his compatriot.

Smith Rowe also came through the club's academy and appears set for a big future at Emirates Stadium and with England.

He scored Arsenal's first in the 2-1 weekend win over Brentford, taking his Premier League tally to nine goals from just 15 starts. Arteta does not think this is a fluke, though he did not want to put Smith Rowe's rise down to any one aspect.

"I think it's a combination of everything," Arteta said when asked if England recognition had been a factor in Smith Rowe's form.

"It's in his nature. Obviously, he needs to feel that confidence around the coaching staff, that we are the right people to guide him and take him to the next level.

"He needs his team-mates because they are big contributors to what he can do on the pitch. He needs to feel loved, have the right environment around him – his family, girlfriend, whatever is next to him – and when that happens he's got a good chance.

"The numbers should be looking something like this and it's not a coincidence. He's practising every day, he's working, he's open. He has willingness to do it because he knows he has the qualities and capacity to do it and that's what we have to demand from players whether they are 19, 20, or 35."

Former England star Jack Wilshere will attempt to get his stalled career moving again after signing for Danish side AGF.

The 30-year-old is joining the Aarhus-based team on a short-term deal initially, but an option to extend that contract by one year exists, with Wilshere desperate to prove himself after falling off the footballing map.

Arsenal favourite Wilshere, who began his career with the Gunners and helped the club win the FA Cup twice, has been without a team since leaving Bournemouth at the end of last season.

He was a teenage wonder with Arsenal, making his debut as a 16-year-old playmaker in 2008, but injuries have blighted his career in recent years. Recently, he has been training with Arsenal in an effort to build up his fitness.

AGF sit seventh in the 12-team Superligaen, and their director of football is former Liverpool left-back Stig Inge Bjornebye.

Wilshere, handed the number 10 shirt, said: "Since I started training with Arsenal, I have never hidden the fact that it was to be ready for 2022 and for a new club.

"Now the right club is here, and it will be an exciting new challenge for me. I am in a place in my career where I need to get started again after a difficult period and that opportunity has AGF offered me. For that I am very grateful, and I will do everything I can to live up to the expectations.

"I'm physically in really good shape and I feel fit, so now for me it's about getting into the squad and see if I can earn some playing time for the club and contribute to get some wins."

Wilshere will begin training with AGF on Monday, the club said on their website.

Bjornebye said: "Jack needs no further presentation and he has shown his worth on both club and national level over the past 10 years.

"So when the opportunity arose to get him here to Aarhus, we had no doubt that we would like to pursue it. Jack can contribute with his excellent technique and his eye for the game and he will give us some extra offensive tools.

"He is in good physical shape, but obviously lacks some game fitness. But that will soon come, and we look forward to seeing him in the white jersey, when he has settled in."

Wilshere made 125 Premier League appearances for Arsenal, spread across nine seasons, scoring seven goals and having 14 assists.

He also played 22 Champions League games for the north London side, netting four goals and managing four assists, and went on to have a frustrating two-year stint with West Ham, that ended in October 2020.

Wilshere was Arsenal's player of the season in 2010-11, and the Professional Footballers' Association's young player of the year for the same campaign.

For England, he has won 34 caps, last featuring in the famous defeat to Iceland at Euro 2016.