Wilshere admits he's had 'no offers' as ex-Arsenal star opens up on mental health

The 29-year-old has struggled to recapture the form that saw him become a fan favourite at the Emirates, with a series of injuries derailing his career.

After leaving his boyhood team in 2018, spells at West Ham and Bournemouth did not work out for him and the ex-England international has now been left without a club.

Wilshere has been maintaining his fitness in preparation for his next move, having recently spent a period training with Serie B outfit Como FC, while Mikel Arteta said the door was always open at the north London club for him.

And the star has now said he may soon return to continue his training in Italy, as he is still yet to receive any concrete offers.

Wilshere, speaking on the Original Penguin X Campaign Against Living Miserably Under The Surface podcast, said: "I'm still without a club. I was training in Italy with Como FC, I've got a relationship with Dennis Wise who is the CEO and he invited me over to train.

"Unfortunately they can't do anything because of the rules with Serie B and non-EU players but I'm potentially going over there again to train just to be training with a team, be around players, because before that I was just training my own which is difficult mentally."

He continued: "You know if you'd have asked me even probably two years ago, 'do I see myself in this position', I would've just said no chance and if you go back further than that when I was with Arsenal, I probably expected to still be playing for England and still playing for Arsenal.

"So no, I didn't expect to be in this position, and there have been times where it's been tough mentally, especially when you have to train on your own. You see teams go back to pre-season and you you're still waiting and you're getting nothing; it's tough."

When asked if he had received any offers, Wilshere said: "There have been some talks with teams but no; no official offers."

Wilshere opened up on his mental health in an interview with The Athletic's David Ornstein and admitted that it was a weight off his chest.

But he revealed the 'depressive thought's and feelings he has encountered since being left without a club.

He said: "I think the biggest thing that's helped me is speaking out. We obviously did an interview with David Ornstein and the response and the people that have reached out.

"It gives you confidence, and it helps massively and, you know, as men and as footballers, we probably find it difficult to speak out and I always had that in my head.

"I didn't think people want to hear someone who is a footballer who gets paid well moaning about things, when it could be a dad out there who has to work 15 hours a day just to put food on the table.

"Someone reached out to me and said, 'you know these thoughts' - I don't want to say depression because I wouldn't say I'm depressed, but these depressive thoughts - 'they don't care if you've got money you've got nothing, everyone has them and it's about how you process them and deal with them'.

"Just because the perception of people on social media, or people outside of the game - it's not everyone, because a lot of people - I'd say 95 percent of the public and fans - have been supportive of me, but you always get some like, 'oh what have you got moan about, you've got a nice house, you've got nice cars', so I didn't want to go down that road, but it did help massively.

"It was difficult to do. I also thought it might come across a little bit weak but it actually didn't, it was the opposite. I had the opposite response from people saying how brave you are, and just being really supportive.

"It was a weight off my chest. It just helped me when people were reaching out to me and it helped me with a lot of things but as well it just motivated me a little bit more to keep going, keep training and just wait for the right opportunity to come. It will come.

"A lot of people were saying that, people in the game who you respect and tell you that; it gives you confidence."