Tomas Rosicky has spoken about his influence on the British Arsenal players and why this makes it difficult to leave the club.

When he signed for Arsenal 10 years ago, Rosicky was coming to north London at the tail end of a lot of success. We’d had the Invincible season a few years prior and, at this point, it’d only been a year since we’d last won a trophy (the FA Cup in 2005). It was now time for the new blood to come through and a number of our Young Guns started to emerge from the academy.

“When I came, all the young British guys grew alongside me,” he said.

“I have seen them since they were 16 years old basically — Jack, Theo, the Ox, Aaron and Kieran Gibbs, so many. I have seen them grow from little lads to the big players they are now and this makes me proud that I had an influence on them and that is why it is really difficult to leave.”

As difficult as it must be for the Czech international, it must be equally so for the younger players who saw him as an inspiration.

Jack Wilshere already paid his respects on Instagram, posting a picture of the two midfielders and captioning it with a heart-felt message about the 35-year-old. It’s going to be tough not having someone who they looked up to at the club anymore. However, hopefully this will inspire them to be that guy for someone else.