Wilshere finally returns to professional football after training with Arsenal

Former Arsenal and West Ham midfielder Jack Wilshere has signed for Danish Superliga side Aarhus Gymnastikforening to end his lengthy spell as a free agent.

The central midfielder had been without a club for eight months after leaving Championship side Bournemouth at the end of last season.

Wilshere had been training at the start of this campaign at Italian club Como but was unable to sign for the club as he did not hold an EU passport at the time.

Without a club and aiming to gain full fitness, Wilshere - who spent a decade in the North London club's first-team squad, making 197 appearances - then returned to train at the club, without signing a contract.

On Sunday, local media in Denmark reported that Wilshere had agreed terms with Danish side Aarhus, with the club subsequently putting a teaser on their social media account.

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The Scandinavian outfit posted a video of a home shirt with the number 10 on the back hanging from a cannon, featuring the caption: 'In coming...'

Despite Wilshere having been training with the Gunners, boss Mikel Arteta had ruled out his former teammate signing a contract with the club.

"What you should believe is that we want to help Jack prepare for his next stage, physically, mentally," Arteta told Arsenal's official website in October, when Wilshere returned to train at the club's facilities.

"He wants to do his coaching badges again and we are prepared to fulfil all the needs that he wants. That is basically the idea and it is no further than that.

"I am very happy to have him back. We had a conversation with Jack and understand the needs that he has, the period that he is going through and I think everyone at the club agreed it was the right moment to help him.

"We sat down with him and we listened to what he wanted to do and what stage he is and we are prepared to do anything we can to help him.

"He is going to be training sometimes with us, he is going to be around the place, he is going to be continuing his coaching badges that he is very interested in, try to get him fit, try to get his experiences across to our players, our young players, our academy and I think it is great influence to have around."

Wilshere joined Arsenal as a nine-year-old, captaining multiple youth teams before making his first-team debut at the age of 16 years and 256 days - the club's youngest ever league debutant.

Last season, Wilshere made 17 appearances for Bournemouth - including 11 matches in the starting XI - but he featured in just nine minutes of the two playoff games against Brentford, as the South Coast club came up short in their attempts to win promotion.