Why Mikel Arteta Will Stay at Manchester City

Manchester City Assistant Manager Mikel Arteta is high on the list of replacements for departed manager Unai Emery at Arsenal.

At Manchester City’s sprawling training complex at the City Football Academy there is an interesting new building squeezed onto the tarmac next to the first team training pitch.

This so called ‘tactical’ pitch used by the First Team lies at the centre of the complex, protected from prying eyes by the buildings which surround it, but on many days the activity coming from the new neighbouring building draws the attention.

This new building is a ‘padel court’ built for a cost of over a £100k at the request of City Assistant Manager, Mikel Arteta. Padel is a racquet sports game, played on a small court, usually in doubles. The game uses most of the same rules and scoring of tennis and is actively played in many Spanish speaking countries.

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Arteta plays padel every day and there is a burgeoning competition between players and staff at the CFA, as they seek to out do one another. Arteta believes that padel helps to hone player fitness and coordination and builds team spirit.

Whilst the padel court is not a reason as such for Arteta to spurn advances from any potential suitors, it is illustrative of the high regard with which he is held by the senior management at City.

Arteta was brought to City by Pep Guardiola as part of his coaching staff, believing he would offer a useful bridge because of his knowledge of the Premier League.

After the departure of Guardiola’s long term Assistant Manager, Domenec Torrent, to become manager at New York City at the end of 2017/18 season, Arteta was promoted to new Assistant Manager.

His stock as a coach has also risen during this time as it has become clear that it is Arteta’s one to one tuition with Raheem Sterling which has sharpened his abilities and coincided with his growth into an elite player.

When Arsenal were looking to replace Arsene Wenger, ex player Arteta was interviewed but the board appointed Unai Emery, believing Arteta not yet ready to take the reins.

The departure of Emery this week has increased speculation that Arsenal will return for Arteta again, this time more willing to secure his services.

Guardiola has made clear he would not stand in the way of Arteta pursuing a move, saying he wanted his staff to reach their best level. In fact, given the departure of Torrent, it is obvious to see that Guardiola’s intentions here are honest and transparent.

So it will all come down to Arteta. It will be his choice to stay or go.

As a driven and ambitious man he will not be frightened of the challenge faced at Arsenal. Whether he believes he can get the best out of a lop sided squad is a matter which will feature in his considerations.

Arteta though is fiercely loyal and may well still be smarting from his rejection at Arsenal last time. In order to tempt me in those circumstances I would want to have some assurances about player recruitment or I would wait.

So I think it unlikely Arteta will leave mid way through a campaign, instead preferring to see out his time with Pep Guardiola, continuing to learn and sharpen his skills.

Accordingly the noise of the padel ball will continue to resonate across the CFA as Arteta bides his time. Given the excellent work he has done so far at City, no one be disappointed.