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Former player Mikel Arteta is the man that the Arsenal hierarchy want to succeed Unai Emery as manager.
The Spaniard was in line to succeed Arsène Wenger as boss in the summer of 2018, but the club’s Chief Executive at the time, Ivan Gazidis, then intervened and cast his deciding vote in favour of Emery.
Reports suggest that Arteta is keen on the move, and that Pep Guardiola, who may have blocked the move before, is reported to be open to the suggestion, because he is supportive of his fellow Spaniard’s ambitions to manage in the Premier League.
City have identified another former Arsenal player as Arteta’s replacement, in the shape of Giovanno van Bronckhurst, who has been working for the Ciry Group since the summer, and is spending an increasing amount of time at the Etihad.
When questioned about whether Guardiola had the right qualities to be a manager, Guardiola said of his number two “he will have success”.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.