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Mikel Arteta has ruled out the possibility of Jack Wilshere returning to Arsenal in a playing capacity.
The midfielder is back at the club training in order to keep his fitness levels out, and he has also been helping out coaching some of the academy players.
That has led to inevitable speculation that he may be set for a shock return to the Gunners who he left for West Ham on a free transfer in the summer of 2018, especially as the Gunners are very short of numbers in the middle of the park now.
Both Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny have departed to play for their respective countries at the African Cup of Nations, and Ainsley Maitland-Niles has been allowed to join Roma on loan for the rest of the season.
Arteta though said:”I was very clear with the situation with Jack and the role that he was going to have being around here and we continue the same way.”
Wilshere has been without a club since being released by the Hammers at the end of last season.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.