The manager of Arsenal football club, Mikel Arteta has insisted that he is focused on his job at the Premier League club rather than the speculations linking him to a managerial role at FC Barcelona.
Recently, a presidential candidate in the forthcoming FC Barcelona election, Joan Laporta, reportedly identified the 38-year-old Spanish tactician as a possible replacement of Ronald Koeman.
In the election which is scheduled to take place on Sunday, March 7, Joan Laporta who has ruled the club in the past, is said to be the favorite to emerge as the winner.
If that happens, his next point of call could be to replace the current coach of the club, Koeman who has not been so impressive since he was appointed as the manager of the club last summer.
The Dutch tactician has led FC Barcelona to the second spot on the La Liga table with 53 points in 25 games so far this season. He and his boys have recorded 16 wins, 5 draws, and 4 defeats in the league this season.
Barcelona could crash out of this season’s UEFA Champions League round of 16. The Spanish giants suffered a humiliating 4-1 bashing in the first leg of the round at home on February 16 against Paris Saint Germain.
This means that FC Barcelona must defeat PSG in France on March 10 with at least 4 goals to none to scale through to the next round. If that fails to happen, the Dutch tactician might have to leave the club.
Based on this, Catalan radio reported that Mikel Arteta who started his football career at FC Barcelona but couldn’t make any senior team appearance for the club before he moved to Rangers in 2002, could be the club’s new manager if Laporta becomes the club’s president.
However, just like Koeman, Mikel Arteta has not been having it funny at Arsenal. He and his boys are currently sitting on the 10th spot on the league table with 37 points in 26 league games. Arsenal are 8 points away from 4th placed West Ham United which means that Koeman is currently faring better than Arteta in their different capacity.
“There is always going to be speculation when there are elections in Barcelona”, Mikel Arteta said.
“It’s a huge team and obviously I was raised there as a player, and they’re always going to be linked.
“But I’m fully focused on the job that I have to do here, which we have a lot to do and I’m really enjoying it.
“I feel privileged to manage this football club and I’m extremely happy…
“Today and tomorrow I am the manager of Arsenal Football Club and I’m really enjoying it and I want to do much better than what we’ve done.”
Mikel Arteta signed a four-year deal with Arsenal on December 22, 2019. The contract is expected to keep him at the club until 2024. The Spanish tactician confirmed that he has not started to negotiate a contract extension with Arsenal because “at the moment it’s not a priority”.
“I still have my contract here and I’m happy here, and I don’t think it’s something urgent”, he added.
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