Jack Wilshere makes positive Arsenal return but his future remains uncertain after broken leg

Jack Wilshere took to the pitch in an Arsenal shirt for the first time in nearly a year on Monday night and impressed as the Gunners’ under-23 side faced Derby County in the Premier League 2.

The 25-year-old, who played in a deep-lying role alongside Francis Coquelin, has not played any competitive football since fracturing his leg while on loan at Bournemouth last season playing against Tottenham.

And there were a few signs that his touch of class still remained in the 75 minutes he played at St George’s Park, even if he did look a fair distance short of match practice.

Wilshere only returned to full training for the first time since his injury this month and set up a great opportunity with a cross from the left before dinking a delicate, chipped through ball to create another one.

There were also the occasional bursts forward but his energy wore off later in the game, understandably.

Wilshere’s future is still uncertain with the likes of Aaron Ramsey, Granit Xhaka, Mohamed Elneny and Coquelin all ahead of him in the pecking order.

Speaking last week, Arsene Wenger said of Wilshere’s future: “That decision is not completely made. I want him to have a chance to play somewhere as well. We have to decide that a bit later.

“I wanted first him to come back, he is coming out of a fracture. It is the first week he is back in full training and we have to sit down together and see where we go from there.”