Xavi Hernandez is going to leave Barcelona at the end of the season, so it was obvious that Mikel Arteta’s name was going to be mentioned as a possible replacement.
The Arsenal boss was born in San Sebastian and came through the famous La Masia academy, but failed to make the grade, before forging a career in the Premier League.
Now, the 41-year-old is trying to end Arsenal’s near two-decade wait to become champions of England and the team has never been closer.
Paul Merson has stated that, even if those at the Nou Camp came knocking, then Mikel Arteta wouldn’t leave because Arsenal is now a ‘bigger draw’ than Barcelona, as he told Sky Sports.
To be fair to the former midfielder, he was pretty blunt in his response to all this talk and he made it clear that this Barcelona rumour is all ‘fake news’.
Look, he probably wants to manage the La Liga giants one day, it’s his boyhood club and it’s understandable if he wanted to – they certainly admire him, as sources told HITC Football.
But the man himself has made it pretty clear that he isn’t going anywhere and will probably want to win trophies year in and year out at the Emirates before he leaves.
What’s even more interesting is that, given Barca’s current situation, Paul Merson thinks those in north London are now the bigger fish, which wasn’t the case a decade ago.
Arsenal and Barcelona
“Mikel [Arteta] has said he is not happy with it [reports claiming he would leave this summer to replace Xavi at Barcelona] and has denied it,” said Merson.
“You have to go with his word. The game has changed now, Arsenal is a bigger draw than Barcelona in my opinion.
“Five, 10, 15 years ago, you ask any footballer or manager in the world and they all wanted to play for or manage Real Madrid or Barcelona. That was the pinnacle of your football career.
“But I do not think that is now the case with Barcelona anymore, they are an also-ran. They are not a big threat in Europe anymore and are well of the pace in the title race, while they got smashed again the other night [5-3 against Villarreal].
“Five, six, seven years ago I may have said, ‘I do not see anything but Arteta leaving’, although I could be wrong, but I do not see how they are a bigger draw than Arsenal today. I do not see how they are a step forward, then there are their finances and you would rather work with Arsenal’s squad of players than Barcelona’s right now.”
Will Mikel Arteta win the Premier League title?
Some people forget that when he took the Arsenal job, he took over a side in a world of mess, both on and off the field.
How he has built the club is pretty impressive because he had zero experience behind him and had just come off supporting Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.
But everybody knows that FA Cup win isn’t enough. He needs the Premier League title. The quicker he wins it, the better!
And if he does get over that dotted line, then he can put himself into the elite category of the top coaches in the world.
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