Mikel Arteta is set to leave Manchester City behind and take over at Premier League crisis club Arsenal - Freddie Ljungberg will be very pleased.
A rift is emerging between Freddie Ljungberg and Arsenal’s underperforming players, according to The Independent, while incoming manager Mikel Arteta is already negotiating potential new signings with the Gunners chiefs.
37-year-old Arteta could hardly have chosen a tougher job in his first ever managerial role.
The former Arsenal captain is expected to be announced as the club’s new head coach in the coming days but even three years as Pep Guardiola’s right-hand man at Manchester City will not have prepared him for the crisis he is about to walk into.
On current form, Arsenal are arguably the most underperforming team in the entire Premier League – they are certainly the easiest to play against – and head into the Christmas period in the top half of the table on goal difference alone.
The sacking of Unai Emery, and the subsequent appointment of the highly-regarded Ljungberg as interim coach, has done little to turn Arsenal’s season around with Sunday’s pathetic 3-0 home defeat to Manchester City meaning they won just one out of five games under the legendary Swede.
According to The Independent, a number of players have complained about the standard of Ljungberg’s training sessions while the man himself is understandably irate about the attitude of his floundering squad.
Good luck clearing up this mess, Mikel.
The report adds that Arteta is already discussing transfer targets with the Arsenal board as the crisis club put plans in place for the sort of substantial clear-out they have needed for far too long.
Could we be about to see the last of Granit Xhaka, Shkodran Mustafi and even Mesut Ozil in a Gunners shirt?
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