According to the Guardian, Arsenal will be required to pay compensation of at least £1m to Manchester City if they were to appoint former captain Mikel Arteta as their next manager.
The Guardian also add that the Premier League champions don’t wish to stand in Arteta’s way as he pursues his first managerial role – and that they actually see him as someone that could be their head honcho in the future.
Recent reports appear to indicate that the Gunners are very close to bringing Arteta back to the Emirates Stadium.
The Sun reported that Arsenal chiefs left the Spaniard’s house at 1am after late night talks. The Daily Mail have also claimed that Arteta is set to meet Arsenal chief Josh Kroenke tonight, the talks between the pair will act as the third and final step of Arteta’s interview process with the Gunners.
It’s not surprising to see a figure of around £1m being tipped to be enough to compensate Manchester City with as the the Telegraph recently claimed that Arteta has just 18 months left on his current contract with the Premier League champions.
Paul Merson recently wrote in his Sky Sports column that the Arsenal board would be ‘clueless’ to appoint Arteta given that this would be his first role in management.
The Gunners have only won one of their last 12 games across all competitions, the north London outfit need to find their feet very soon if they’re to have any hope of getting their season back on track.
Given that club legend Freddie Ljungberg has struggled to inspire an uplift in results since taking caretaker charge, would appointing Arteta really be the best option for Arsenal?
