Mikel Arteta lines up...Santi Cazorla (?) as an assistant?

Miguel Delaney reported yesterday that Manchester City assistant coach, and former Arsenal captain, Mikel Arteta is currently in the process of building a backroom staff ahead of an Arsenal managerial appointment. Today, Delaney is reporting one potential assistant, and it’s quite an interesting one: Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla.

As we all know, Cazorla’s had a long and very arduous path to recovery following an Achilles injury suffered nearly two years ago, and that he was back to full training right as this past season was ending, with the hopes that time wouldn’t fully run out as he neared complete, full fitness. Cazorla eventually didn’t get a chance to feature in a match, but it’s widely-assumed that, given full rest this summer and no injury setbacks, he will be ready for the start of the upcoming season. Delaney reports that Arteta views Cazorla as a future player-coach which will allow him the opportunity to continue playing, similar to an agreement Michael Carrick reached with Manchester United during his final season this past year.

More to come, as always, but this is the second day in a row that Delaney has reported details on a future that involves Mikel Arteta as Arsenal manager. We’ll eventually see just how accurate he is.