Manchester City's current problems could spell the end of their manager's tenure (Image credit: Visionhaus/Getty Images)
WhileL’Equipe have reported Paris Saint-Germain's interest in Guardiola – despite him only signing an extension to his current City deal in November last year – it's believed that City themselves have Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta high up on a list to replace his former mentor.
The Athletic reported last year that the Citizens were keeping tabs on Arteta, with interest surely growing following the Gunners' surprise title challenge this season against City. There has, in fact, been mutual interest from Arteta in the past, too.
Arteta worked under Guardiola in Manchester after retiring from playing in 2016 – but The Mirror claimed that one of the reasons that Arteta left City for Arsenal in 2019 was that the Citizens didn't guarantee him a pathway to manage the club after Guardiola left.
The now-Gunners boss grew up idolising Guardiola as a player in the Basque Country and eventually played alongside him when he joined Barcelona's La Masia academy. City were unsure of giving the reins to an unproven coach whenever Guardiola decided to call it a day, though – something that wouldn't be a problem, now.
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Mikel Arteta is wanted by Manchester City to replace his childhood hero (Image credit: Getty Images)
Whether Arteta would now consider leaving for City is another thing. The Basque boss holds loyalty as a core value and would likely prefer to stick with the club who have backed him through tough times managerially, rather than leave for a Premier League rival. With City potentially facing financial sanctions, too, they may not be able to offer Arteta anything close to the control and budget to make him consider leaving Arsenal.
The Mirrorhave previously reported that Guardiola is a target for the Netherlands job, The BBC have claimed that Brazil have approached him in the past and The Independent have stated that he asked to interview for the England job after Fabio Capello – but was turned down on the grounds of not being English himself.
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Mark White is the Digital Content Editor at FourFourTwo. During his time on the brand, Mark has written three cover features on Mikel Arteta, Martin Odegaard and the Invincibles, and has written pieces on subjects ranging from Sir Bobby Robson’s time at Barcelona to the career of Robinho. An encyclopedia of football trivia and collector of shirts, he first joined the team back in 2020 as a staff writer.
