Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta seen as future managerial candidate at Barcelona – report

Barcelona highly value the work done by Mikel Arteta at Arsenal and see him as a managerial candidate for the future, reports Luis Miguel Sanz of SPORT.

Arteta trained at Barça’s La Masia youth academy in the early stages of his playing career before leaving in 2002. Having retired in 2016 after a stint at Arsenal, the Spaniard joined Pep Guardiola’s coaching staff at Manchester City.

After three years as an assistant under the former Barcelona manager, Arteta was handed over the reins of Arsenal in December 2019, where he replaced Unai Emery. And, so far, the 40-year-old has done a solid job.

Arteta has gotten the team playing an attractive brand of football and has nurtured young talent like Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard. Having won the FA Cup and the Community Shield, he has now led Arsenal to the top of the Premier League table this season.

All this has not gone unnoticed at Barcelona, who admire the work that Arteta has been doing at the Emirates Stadium. So much so that the Blaugrana see the 40-year-old as a candidate to manage the Catalan club in the future.

Barça currently have Xavi Hernandez as their first-team manager and there is no immediate plan to replace him. In fact, the club want the 42-year-old remain in charge for a long time.

But if and when the time comes for a separation of ways, Arteta will be a candidate that the Blaugrana will consider. Having come through the La Masia system, he knows the values of the club while working under Guardiola has only further helped him polish those ideologies.

So, Arteta is seen as a good fit at Barcelona, but as iterated earlier, there is no plan to replace Xavi, who enjoys the full support of the club despite the recent stumbles in the UEFA Champions League.

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