Ex-Manchester United striker, Louis Saha has predicted which team Mikel Arteta would manage in the future.
He recently revealed that while most people would think it is Real Madrid, he believes the Spaniard might prefer Barcelona instead.
According to him, because Arteta is still a young manager who is yet to win any major trophies with Arsenal, the Real Madrid job might be too soon for him at the moment, unlike Barcelona, where he’ll be under less pressure to perform.
Saha confirmed that he expects Mikel to stay in England until he wins trophies with Arsenal, and because he is such a loyal guy, any attempt by a bigger club to lure him out of the Emirates will definitely fall on deaf ears.
Louis expects Arteta to focus on creating a lasting foundation at Arsenal that will guarantee his impact at the club, and then, after a few years of domination, he might begin to become more open-minded to trying something new in Spain or anywhere else.
“I think it was the president of Bayer Leverkusen who said that he was happy for Arsenal to have won, but he would have preferred to see Real Madrid win so they could keep Xabi Alonso. There is competition there if the Real Madrid job is free. There are a lot of managers who would like to be there. I’m sure that Mikel Arteta is maybe looking at Barcelona more than Real Madrid.
But yes, Mikel has done really well with Arsenal. I’m sure that he wants to win a trophy before going anywhere. He will probably look at this trajectory, but the Real Madrid job is not something that you refuse as a manager. But I think it’s a bit early for him. He has a lot to achieve in his career, and he’s still a young manager,” he said.
Speaking on Mikel being a loyal guy, Saha confirmed that he knows about Mikel’s unshakable loyalty because he was his teammate at Everton in the 2000s, and they got to each other on a personal level at the time.
He said that Arteta must see his role as Arsenal manager as a very important one, therefore, fans can expect him to do everything possible to win the EPL or UCL with the Gunners in the coming years, else, he’ll have to admit he has failed.
“Winning a major trophy with Arsenal would be amazing, and it would be the minimum I think he will want. Because, from what I know and remember, Mikel is a very loyal guy, and I’m sure that he sees his position as a very important job. He wants to win with the Gunners.
He will want to create a foundation. I think after two or three years, you can see that he has done a terrific job there. He needs to win before he’ll think about leaving,” Saha added.
