It is usually left to the transfer window to throw up some interesting links between players and clubs. However, sometimes the managerial merry-go-round can too generate a host of surprising stories.
Mikel Arteta has looked a guaranteed fixture at Arsenal having guided the club to fourth spot with ten games remaining. The Spaniard’s contract at the club expires at the end of next season but talks over a new deal are expected to take place soon.
“Listen, it’s just that I am really happy here and my aim is just to build, with the club, a winning team,” Arteta said in February. “A team that people enjoy watching, that they can identify with and that can transmit what we want football-wise and as an organisation.”
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It was therefore a surprise to see the Arsenal job supposedly being discussed with a potential new candidate. Brazil’s head coach Tite has been tipped to take on the Gunners role after his time with the national side ends.
Tite is expected to step down after the 2022 Qatar World Cup. The information comes from Eric Faria of Brazilian outlet TV Globo.
"There is already a negotiation of Tite to work in English football. To work at Arsenal. He worked with Edu Gaspar. There is the intention, negotiations have started", said Faria via ESPN.
Edu and Tite are said to be very close having worked together at Corinthians and the Brazilian national side. However, both Edu and Arteta also have a very strong and established relationship having worked together at the club for some time now.
Since Arteta’s promotion from head coach to manager, the Spaniard has worked alongside the Brazilian rather than beneath him. Arteta praised the work being done by Edu in January despite the club not signing any senior players in the winter window.
"Edu and his team did a fantastic job and they continue to do that,” said Arteta. "We only want the best players and the best people in this club. When we are in a rush and the reasons are not right for getting a player into the club, we decide not to do it."
football.london reported in January that the club is set to offer Arteta a brand new deal at the end of the season. This would allow the focus to remain on the field with a race for the top four crucially important to the club’s long-term plans.
The club remains confident that Arteta will sign a new deal despite Paris Saint Germain monitoring the coach’s situation, football.london understands. With Mauricio Pochettino expected to leave, the French club will be assessing a number of options.
Is it possible that the link to Tite is a sign of the club perhaps considering a contingency plan should Mikel Arteta surprise everyone and decide instead not to renew? Perhaps.
However, personally, it would be a complete shock to see this progress and for Arteta not to continue on as Arsenal manager. He has much he wants to achieve and the club has backed him with serious investment with an expectation of more to come this summer.
