Arteta linked to Manchester City coaching role

Mikel Arteta: Could move into coaching at Man City

Mikel Arteta: Could move into coaching at Man City

Incoming Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola is pondering whether to add Arsenal midfielder Mike Arteta to his backroom staff in the summer, according to a report.

Arteta, 33, has only played 159 minutes of first-team football this term and may decide to hang up his boots this summer and if he does the Daily Express reports that Guardiola will offer him a coaching role at The Etihad.

San Sebastian-born Arteta is a close friend of Guardiola and his fitness coach Lorenzo Buenaventura, and the paper claims he was a recent visitor to Bayern Munich’s Sabener Strasse training complex.

Guardiola is leaving Munich at the end of the season to take up the manager’s role with Manchester City and is already contemplating his new coaching team.

Arteta, who only played 449 minutes of first-team football last season, has struggled with ankle and calf problems over the last 18 months and he has already started his coaching badges and worked with the club’s Under-13s.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is expected to offer Arteta a coaching role with the Gunners if he does decide to retire, but the lure of working with Guardiola – his boyhood hero – may be too tempting to ignore.