Tomas Rosicky will not be hanging up his boots despite leaving Arsenal and heading to the Euros without a club.

The Czech international, who spent 10 years at Arsenal, is loved by all fans of the club but even those who hold the deepest affection for the midfielder know that the time had come to let him go from the club due to the return of his injury problems.

Currently away with his national team, Tom told reporters at his Prague training camp that he won’t be retiring just yet. “Right after the injury I knew that I did not want to end my career like this.

“I started to get messages, not only from my team-mates, but from people from all around the world saying that my story is a great inspiration for the others.

“I got a message from a boy in a camp in Syria that one of the remaining hopes he has is wanting to see me playing again,” he added.

“That touched me. I saw the tremendous importance football has to people’s lives. I was moved and it really influenced me and inspired me not to give up.

“This was one of the impulses for me to carry on and not say goodbye to my career while sitting on the bench.”

It has been more than a year since Rosicky played for his country and many were surprised to see him included in the Cech team for the Euros given that he only played 19 minutes for the Arsenal first team all season.

He did also manage 159 for the u21s in their league and 90 in the play-offs.