Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino is reportedly looking to lure away Mikel Arteta from Manchester City. According to the Mirror, Pochettino has “made overtures to Arteta to join his coaching staff” after making a strong impression during his season-and-a-half of working under Pep Guardiola at Etihad Stadium. But the former midfielder has knocked down the offer and is currently considered happy being Pep’s assistant.
The 35-year-old Spaniard, who joined Guardiola’s support staff at the beginning of the manager’s Eithad reign in July last year has become an integral part of City’s title charge this campaign.
Having impressed with his coaching credentials in a very short term, it is reported that Arteta is being tracked by his former club Arsenal to assist manager Arsene Wenger with Gunners’ hierarchy considering a possibility of making the ex-club captain the Frenchman’s eventual successor.
The Mirror’s report further adds that Everton chairman Bill Kenwright pushed Arteta’s name forward as a candidate to replace Ronald Koeman, who was sacked in late October. In the end, Everton went for experience and brought in Sam Allardyce, and the club has since been performing well.
Coming back to Spurs, it doesn’t come as a shock to learn Pochettino has made a proposal to Arteta to join us. Given Arteta’s influence since 2016, it is easy to judge why the Spurs gaffer wants the ex-Arsenal midfielder to join his forces.
Arteta, who spent a decade playing in the Premier League, is a confident coach with a deep understanding of the game. He has had the ideal preparation for managing; coming through the ranks of La Masia, playing with Pochettino at Paris Saint-Germain, being Arsenal’s captain and now learning the trade under Guardiola.
In 2014, Arteta described in an interview:
“I want the football to be expressive, entertaining. I cannot have a concept of football where everything is based on the opposition. We have to dictate the game, we have to be the ones taking the initiative, and we have to entertain the people coming to watch us.”
In Pochettino’s recent book, the Tottenham Hotspur manager writes of Arteta:
“I am very fond of him and he will make an exceptional coach.”
Guardiola already knows Arteta is a talent and Poch is the recent manager to join the bandwagon of praising the Spaniard.
Would you be okay with a former Arsenal captain joining our coaching team?
