Arsenal slammed by rivals Man City over shambolic and disrespectful pursuit of Mikel Arteta
MANCHESTER CITY tore into Arsenal last night over their disrespectful and shambolic pursuit of Mikel Arteta.
The Spaniard is believed to have agreed to succeed Unai Emery and become the next Gunners manager.
Yet Arteta was still on the bench as Pep Guardiola’s No 2 for the Carabao Cup win at Oxford last night.
City sources say they have not had any formal contact from Arsenal over their assistant manager.
They want a whopping £2million in compensation for Arteta — and are angry at the conduct of their Premier League rivals.
A City source said: “It’s surprising to hear that plans are being made by Arsenal to unveil our coach as their head coach on Friday. No contact has been made by the club to discuss this matter.”
The two clubs met at the Emirates on Sunday and most of City’s top brass were present — yet nobody from Arsenal said anything about their plans.
Hours later SunSport published pictures of Arsenal chief exec Vinai Venkatesham leaving Arteta’s home in the early hours of Monday.
Reports were circulating the Gunners were preparing to unveil their new boss tomorrow — which only added to the anger at the Etihad.
Guardiola said on Tuesday he felt his right-hand man had been honest with him during the whole process.
But he agreed with his club’s stance that the Gunners could have handled things better.
He said: “All I can say from what I’m concerned is that Mikel was clear with me and that’s all.
“Perhaps there is a problem with the chairmen and the CEOs — they have to talk to each other.”
The north Londoners are hoping Mikel Arteta’s imminent arrival will persuade skipper Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to sign a new contract.
But the appointment has not gone down well with the striker’s brother Willy, who publicly questioned Arteta’s lack of experience.
Aubameyang has just 18 months left on his £200,000-a-week deal and is in no rush to extend it.
But Gunners chiefs are determined not to allow their 13-goal top scorer, who cost £60m from Borussia Dortmund two years ago, to run down his contract and leave as a free agent in 2021.
Auba, 30, has netted 54 times in 84 Arsenal appearances and shared the Premier League Golden Boot with Sadio Mane and Mo Salah last season.
But he is unhappy with the team’s failure to compete for major honours and is now considering his next move — despite being given the captain’s armband by former boss Emery last month.
Arsenal are relying on Arteta’s appointment to quell the dressing-room unrest caused by a miserable run of one win in their last 12 games.
But the early signs are not great, with Willy Aubameyang responding to a post on AFTV’s Instagram account by pointing out: “Ljungberg, Arteta is the same. No experience.”
It is thought Arteta is keen to bring fellow Spaniard Rodolfo Borrell with him from City’s backroom staff.
Domenec Torrent, who worked with Arteta at City before bossing New York City last season, is another possible recruit.
And Arsenal are keen to retain interim manager Freddie Ljungberg on the staff as they look to replace the extensive backroom team which left with the sacked Emery three weeks ago.
Arsenal’s legendary former boss Arsene Wenger believes his old captain will need all the help he can get to turn around the club’s fortunes.
He said: “Arteta certainly has a great future and he has learned a lot in his first position as an assistant coach to Guardiola.
“But he will have to deal with the fact that he has no experience at that level and will need to be surrounded well.
“The change can be efficient very quickly. It’s just about making the right decisions and good players.
“The club was in a very strong financial position when I left but they have bought many players since and not all of them have worked out.
“We speak about the success of Liverpool and of course they have a great manager, but you have to say that in the last three or four years they bought the right players.”
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Now City’s Carabao Cup quarter-final is out of the way, Arsenal hope the situation will come to a swift conclusion after owner Stan Kroenke’s son Josh gave the green light to Arteta’s appointment before flying back to America on Tuesday.
Ljungberg, who has been in charge for the Gunners’ last five games, is expected to take today’s pre-match press conference to preview the trip to Goodison.
And even if Arteta is confirmed in the next 48 hours, the Swede is likely to remain in charge at the weekend to give the new manager time to assess the squad.