Paris Saint-Germain’s recent talks with Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta were never realistically going to lead to him moving this summer, with the Ligue 1 giants now set to appoint Luis Enrique instead.
However, Luis Campos’ approach to Arteta will most likely have laid some of the groundwork for a future move for the Spanish tactician, according to French football expert Jonathan Johnson.
Arteta had a spell at PSG as a player, and that will give him more legitimacy as a candidate, Johnson wrote in his exclusive CaughtOffside column, so this could be one to watch out for in the future, depending on what happens with the 41-year-old.
Arteta is clearly at an important and exciting stage in his Arsenal project, and Gunners fans will surely be desperate for him to be at the Emirates Stadium for as long as possible.
“As fellow columnist Ben Jacobs recently reported, Mikel Arteta was recently approached by PSG’s Luis Campos, but it was probably a bit unrealistic of PSG to think that he was going to leave Arsenal given the stage that his Gunners project is at,” Johnson explained.
“Still, I think one thing people forget about Arteta, who is more associated for his time in the Premier League with Everton and Arsenal, is that early on in his career he had a very successful loan spell with PSG before he joined Rangers. So there is a little bit of history there as an ex-player, similarly to Mauricio Pochettino.
“PSG are now closing in on Luis Enrique, but it’s come after a difficult search for a new manager. It’s been difficult for them to find the right blend of experience, someone who puts a lot of emphasis on youth, and who would also be a good cultural fit at the club. Arteta is one of the few who ticks most of those boxes, but of course Enrique comes with more experience, having been a Champions League winner, having coached young players in the Spanish national team at major tournaments, and having also worked in the past with some difficult characters like Neymar.
“So it’s no surprise really that they went for Enrique, but I think this approach for Arteta, while never a particularly realistic move now, does perhaps lay the ground for PSG to move for him in the future, because when you’ve played for PSG and end up being a high-profile manager, that counts for a lot in the club’s eyes.
“Arteta’s connections with the club would give him more legitimacy as a candidate, as was the case with Pochettino, so I think he’s one they probably knew was unrealistic now but is also certainly one they’ll look at again in a few years’ time, depending on where Arteta is at that time – he might still be with Arsenal or he could also be with the Spanish national team or looking for another high-profile post.”
It will certainly be interesting to follow Arteta’s management career in the years ahead, and while Arsenal fans will hope he can achieve a great deal in north London, that will surely mean PSG and other elite clubs come sniffing about before too long.