The appointment of Mikel Arteta as the new Arsenal head coach is imminent, according to several news outlets.
The Manchester City assistant coach has been the favourite to take over from Unai Emery all week. After the Gunners lost 0 – 3 to City, Arsenal representatives Vinai Venkatesham and Huss Fahmy were photographed leaving Arteta’s house at 1am the following morning.
Arsenal have added more fuel to the Mikel Arteta fire by cancelling interim head coach Freddie Ljungberg’s Thursday press conference.
The regular pregame presser has been postponed until Friday, with no information about who will face the media.
Read: Mikel Arteta – Arsenal Should Be Winning The Premier League
Arteta, while unproven, is an interesting choice. He arrived at Arsenal after their disastrous 8 – 2 defeat at Old Trafford in August 2011. Along with Per Mertesacker, he helped steady the ship after the breakup of the Fabregas/Nasri team.
He won two F.A cups with the Gunners in 2014 and 2015 – their first trophies since 2005. Arteta became the Arsenal captain and an unlikely club legend.
His football education has been exemplary, too. A graduate of Barcelona’s La Masia academy, he’s played for PSG, Rangers, Real Sociedad, Everton and Arsenal. He’s learned from David Moyes and Arsene Wenger, and has just spent two years as the assistant coach of Pep Guardiola during an historic period of success for Manchester City.
Spanish football journalist Guillem Balague says that Arteta is “more than ready” for management.
“The thing that people may question about him is whether he’s a leader,” Balague told FourFourTwo.
“Just talk to David Moyes about whether he’s a leader or not.
“There were conversations between the two at Everton about football but Arteta also told him how the group should be functioning.
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“Then he went to Arsenal, which was a quiet group and one that’s similar to the current squad now in terms of division, but him and Per Mertesacker led the way.
“They both got a lot out of the players that were there, fought for them and also fought against the players who didn’t treat Arsenal well. He’s a top leader.
“He said no to Newcastle and Lyon and there have been other offers. But he’s more than ready to take over at Arsenal.”
