Arsenal are reportedly set to bring the Gunners cult hero to the Emirates Stadium very soon.
Arsenal legend and Sky Sports pundit Alan Smith has given his verdict on the Gunners’ reportedly imminent appointment of Mikel Arteta as first-team coach (Sky Sports News).
According to several outlets including the Daily Mail, Arsenal and Manchester City are to finalise a compensation package – believed to be in the region of £1million – to release Arteta from his contract with the Premier League champions.
The report goes on to claim that confirmation of the 37-year-old’s appointment as Unai Emery’s successor at the Emirates Stadium is expected by Friday, potentially in time for Saturday’s trip to Everton.
Smith believes that Arteta, himself a cult hero at Arsenal, is “the most exciting, the boldest choice as a innovative young coach” that the Gunners could have gone for, and that even though he has never been a first-team manager before, he reckons the “calculated gamble” will pay off.
However, the iconic Gunners striker added that “the one worry for any Arsenal fan” relates to the possibility of Arteta having little money to spend in the upcoming transfer windows and having to make do with the players he has at present.
“It’s not going to be a quick fix, but I would expect to see his fingerprints on his first few matches and some differences,” Smith wrote on Sky Sports News. “But the one worry for any Arsenal fan is the fact he probably hasn’t got too much money to spend over the next few transfer windows.
“They seem to have spent that in advance on the likes of Nicolas Pepe and David Luiz, but by the same token, that’s why they need a good coach to improve the players they’ve already got on board. I think he’s the one that can do that.”
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