There are concerns that Mikel Arteta may go this summer, which is not the news Arsenal supporters want to hear before a crucial last-day title fight, after he expressed his ambition to manage in Spain.
The Spaniard is, without a shadow of a question, among the world’s top coaches right now. This will be true regardless of whether he leads Arsenal to their first Premier League title in 20 years this weekend.
To win the Premier League for the first time in 20 years, Arsenal must defeat Everton. At the same time, to have a shot at lifting the trophy, they will be praying Manchester City loses to West Ham as well.
Either way, Arteta’s tenure in London will surpass Arsene Wenger’s, yet it’s rather improbable that he will remain for as long. Earlier reports in Spain indicated that the coach was prepared to leave the Emirates for Barcelona, which infuriated him.
But now the 42-year-old has admitted that, when he does go, he will likely go back to Spain to carry on with his management career. “I’ve always thought that one day I’ll come back [to Spain]”, he told Sport.
“My land pulls me a lot, our way of living, of getting together, the culture, and that makes me always have it in my head. But I’m happy here, happy with how I’m treated, I really enjoy my job. Someday I guess it will come, I’m not going to be out all my life.”
Now that the Spaniard has said he wants to go back to his own country and manage in La Liga, additional doubts about his future have arisen. Perhaps he will also jump at the chance to coach Real Sociedad, the club he played for as a child.
Nonetheless, it is not out of the question that he may return to his old club, Barcelona, thanks to the previous links. His remarks come as rumors swirl around Xavi’s future as manager of the Blaugrana.
While Xavi did say he was going to quit the club at season’s end earlier this year, he later decided to remain. His remarks against Real Madrid infuriated club president Joan Laporta. Thus, according to new allegations in the Catalan press, the 44-year-old is reportedly planning to depart.
The famous La Masia institution in Barcelona welcomed Arteta when he was 15 years old. However, his attempts to earn a spot on the first squad were unsuccessful. Nonetheless, he went for a single season to Real Sociedad.
After a loan stint with Sociedad, Everton bought the midfielder permanently in 2005. He was a Toffee until 2011 when he signed with Arsenal. In his playing career, he won two FA Cups and two Community Shields with the North London giants.
Then, he retired in 2016 and became a part of Pep Guardiola’s coaching team at Manchester City. Three years later, Arteta became manager of Arsenal in December 2019, leaving City behind.
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