Jack Wilshere reveals Mikel Arteta's management advice before taking Luton Town job
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Published 31/10/2025 at 21:19 GMT
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Luton Town boss Jack Wilshere told TNT Sports his former Arsenal team-mate Mikel Arteta "laughed in my face" when he asked the Spaniard how he knew when it was time to step into management. Speaking to TNT Sports ahead of his side taking on Forest Green Rovers in the first round of the Emirates FA Cup, Wilshere added he only decided late in his playing career that he wanted to move into coaching.
'He laughed in my face' - Wilshere reveals Arteta's advice on pivoting into management
Video credit: TNT Sports
Jack Wilshere admitted former Arsenal teammate Mikel Arteta "laughed in his face" when he asked about moving to management before taking over at Luton Town in October.
Wilshere played 53 games alongside Arteta in The Gunners’ midfield but left Arsenal before the Spaniard took over in the dugout, and he is now looking to turn around Luton’s fortunes following successive relegations.
The Hatters sat 11th when Wilshere took over, and he has already begun to push them up the League One table, bouncing back from defeat to Mansfield Town in his first game in charge to beat Northampton Town 1-0 and then down Brighton & Hove Albion U21s in the Vertu Trophy.
Wilshere’s focus then turned to the FA Cup, with his side taking on Forest Green Rovers as part of a packed first-round slate live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
And asked by Laura Woods if he spoke to Arteta about when he knew it was the right time to move into management, Wilshere told TNT Sports: "He laughed in my face and said you don’t know.
"You’ve just got to jump in and swim as hard as you can, and he was right."
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Wilshere 'obsessed' by management
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Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger with (L) Mikel Arteta and (R) Jack Wilshere of Arsenal during a training session at London Colney on February 7, 2014 in St Albans, England. (Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
Image credit: Getty Images
Wilshere’s return to Luton marked a full-circle moment as he began his youth career with The Hatters aged nine, before he was quickly poached by Arsenal’s academy, but it was his second, more unheralded brush with the club that the boss said was most pivotal.
Wilshere trained with Luton after he was released by West Ham United, and he said that was the moment he knew he would struggle to compete on the pitch anymore.
The midfielder went on to have spells with Bournemouth and Danish Superliga side AGF before hanging up his boots, and just four days after making that announcement, he was appointed to work under Arteta as head coach of Arsenal U18s.
He then joined Norwich as a first-team coach and was promoted to interim manager at the end of the 2024/25 season, going unbeaten in two dead rubber games with The Canaries locked into mid-table in the Championship.
Wilshere told TNT Sports he did not consider management until late in his playing career.
"It was late for me Coley [Joe Cole], it’s funny I came back to Luton when I left West Ham.
"I came and trained, Nathan Jones was the manager and I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t keep up with it, the intensity, the running, that was probably a moment for me when I realised.
"And when we came back here with Norwich last year, they asked me, ‘What do you expect when you go to Luton?’ and I said they’re probably going to be in your face, they’re going to be aggressive and we’re missing that a little bit.
"So the coaching thing was probably a little bit later, but ever since I touched it, I was obsessed with it. It’s addictive, you’re there every day trying to work things out."
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'Beautiful finish' - Fanne swipes the ball into the top corner to give Luton the lead
Video credit: TNT Sports
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