Mikel Arteta Chooses Manchester City Over Tottenham

With Tottenham Hotspur manager, Mauricio Pochettino, looking to bolster his team in any way he possibly could, the Argentine has lost out on signing Mikel Arteta to join his coaching staff as Arteta has chosen Manchester City instead.

Mauricio Pochettino had been in contact with Mikel Arteta (along with Pep Guardiola) and wanted him to switch north London clubs to join his coaching staff ahead of next season. With the 34-year-old midfielder’s contract expiring at the end of June, there was a possibility that a move could happen, but in the end it didn’t.

Related Story: Tottenham Wants Arsenal's Arteta to Join Coaching Staff

First of all, having an Arsenal player join Tottenham is a no-no. The same is true if a Spurs player were to sign for the Gunners. Both fan bases would not take too kindly to the player for making a move like that.

Secondly, while Mikel Arteta and Mauricio Pochettino were teammates together with Paris Saint-Germain back in the day, when Arteta was still just 17 and Pochettino was captain, there isn’t exactly any vacancy on Tottenham’s coaching staff.

This doesn’t mean that Mikel Arteta wouldn’t be successful as a potential manager in the future, but right now Tottenham is fine as is with their current coaches.

On the other hand, to join Manchester City and Pep Guardiola, who Arteta knows from their time spent in the famed Barcelona youth academy when they were both growing up, Guardiola would be able to offer an immediate role on his staff right away.

Because the 45-year-old Spanish manager has only coached in Spain (La Liga) and Germany (Bundesliga) he would need a trusted aide to help him transition into a new league.

Therefore, offering a position on “the backroom team” — which the Mirror called it — helps kill two birds with one stone.

Not only will Mikel Arteta get his first coaching role once he officially retires, but Pep Guardiola gets to work with someone he knows very well and can help him get acclimated to the Premier League.

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At the moment, Arteta’s first job isn’t coaching related though. Instead it seems he’s being tasked with scouting players that Guardiola is interested in signing prior to the summer transfer window opening.

And if that’s the case, Arteta could look to his former club, Everton, and possibly try to convince management to sell John Stones. The 22-year-old center-back is one of Pep Guardiola’s targets after missing out on Athletic Bilbao’s Aymeric Laporte.

Now if Mikel Arteta’s role right now seems to be a scout, then it’s possible that he would have done the same thing if he joined Tottenham and Pochettino’s staff.

Spurs’ five-man transfer committee is already set as is, but adding another person wouldn’t be a bad thing at all.

It’s too late to have a “what if” scenario if Arteta chose Tottenham instead of Manchester City. But for argument’s sake, let’s see what could have been.

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With Arteta’s playing career that has spanned seven different clubs: Barcelona’s C and B teams, PSG (on loan), Rangers, Real Sociedad, Everton and Arsenal — not to mention being highly regarded by numerous football figures, including people inside Arsenal — it’s to be expected that Mikel Arteta’s connections would be greatly beneficial to any coaching staff as a scout.

It’s a long shot for Manchester City to sign John Stones even with the money that they will have to spend. But should Mikel Arteta’s connections work after spending time with Everton and John Stones himself wants to move, imagine what the Arsenal midfielder could have done with Tottenham.

Romelu Lukaku? Ross Barkley? Players from PSG? Barcelona’s youth players? The possibilities could seem endless.