Arsenal step up Mikel Arteta interest with a number of meetings held over manager's job
Arsenal have stepped up their interest in Mikel Arteta after conducting a series of meetings with the Spaniard in recent days.
Arteta, the current Manchester City assistant manager, is understood to have been interviewed by Arsenal executives last week, ahead of Sunday’s match between City and Arsenal at the Emirates.
Vinai Venkatesham, Arsenal’s managing director, and Huss Fahmy, the director of football operations, were then pictured leaving Arteta’s Manchester home in the early hours of Monday morning.
The Daily Telegraph reported earlier this month that Arteta had become a leading candidate to replace the sacked Unai Emery as Arsenal head coach, although the club’s executives have also been speaking to other managers in recent days as they have worked through a long list of options that includes Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo.
The search for a new head coach is being led by head of football Raul Sanllehi and technical director Edu, with Venkatesham and Fahmy also involved in the financial side of the recruitment process.
A final sign-off on the appointment is required from Josh Kroenke, the son of owner Stan, who is becoming increasingly involved in the running of the club. Josh Kronke was in London to watch Sunday’s 3-0 defeat by City at the Emirates.
Arteta came close to being offered the Arsenal job last summer, when the club was searching for a replacement for Arsene Wenger. Arteta was the leading candidate for much of the recruitment process, with some at Arsenal believing he was all but certain to be given the job before a late change of heart resulted in Emery being chosen instead.
On that occasion, the search for a new head coach was led by Sanllehi, chief executive Ivan Gazidis and head of recruitment Sven Mislintat. Gazidis and Mislintat have since left the club, leaving Sanllehi as the only remaining member of the three-man selection committee which eventually decided to appoint Emery instead of Arteta.
A former Arsenal captain, Arteta has impressed the City hierarchy and players with his obsessive approach to coaching and his work on the training ground, and has been seen by many as an obvious candidate to replace Pep Guardiola when City’s manager decides to step away from the club.
Arteta has been credited with the development of key individuals at City and his potential to improve young players will appeal greatly to Arsenal, who have high expectations for a talented generation of youngsters who are currently pushing for first-team places.
The acceleration of Arsenal’s recruitment process has come as the team has continued to flounder despite the removal of Emery and the appointment of Freddie Ljungberg as interim head coach.
Ljungberg has been working without a full coaching staff behind him and said after Sunday’s loss that the club needed to make a swift decision on a managerial appointment to provide clarity after their disastrous start to the season.
Guardiola did not publicly close the door on Arteta leaving the champions when asked about the situation this weekend. “He is part of our staff, what is going to happen, I don’t know,” he said.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2019/12/16/arsenal-step-upmikel-arteta-interest-number-meetings-held-managers/
