Mikel Arteta will not be at Arsenal for many more years as he is not set to be their ‘long-term’ manager, believes former Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha.
Arteta took charge of Arsenal in December 2019, winning the FA Cup in his first season in charge, but really starting a process that delivered this year.
The Gunners won the Premier League title last season and reached the Champions League final, narrowly missing out on glory as they lost on penalties to Paris Saint-Germain.
The Premier League champions are favourites to lift the title again this season and will be looking to go one better in Europe with a squad packed full of top quality.
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All is well at Arsenal under the reign of Arteta, but Onuoha reckons he is already more than halfway through his spell as manager.
The former QPR defender thinks the Spaniard will be moving on, potentially to Barcelona, in the next three or four years.
‘I don’t see Arteta being at Arsenal for like another three or four years, to be honest. Because that will take him to 10 years,’ Onuoha said on The Sports Agents.
‘For Arteta, it’s very easy to forget this is still his first managerial appointment.
‘So, if he has aspirations as a manager that maybe go beyond just being in the Premier League and being at Arsenal, then when his stock is high, he’ll probably want to consider some of those options.
‘For any manager to be at any club for 10 years-plus is going to be hugely impressive and he’s already one of the longest-serving in the Premier League’s history.
‘I don’t think he’s the long-term Arsenal manager, and I don’t think he’d want to be either. Maybe that’s a hot take.’
Onuoha added: ‘I think for the success that he’s having for Arsenal now… Surely there’ll be other teams in and around Europe that would consider that to be something they would want as well.
‘I think for Mikel, who’s to say that in the future you might not be, like, a Barcelona manager, or say somewhere like that?
‘Or maybe he just wants to have a break? Because, as we know, being a head coach in the Premier League at times can certainly be relentless.’
Arteta is into the final year of his contract at Arsenal, having signed his last extension with the club in 2024.
Last month he said fans have nothing to worry about in terms of his future, explaining: ‘No, they don’t have to worry about any of that because I want to be here, I’m extremely happy.
‘I feel very grateful to work with the people that I work with and whenever we have the possibility we will resolve that and that’s it.’