Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has admitted that he would love an ‘unbelievable’ ex-teammate to join the Emirates Stadium coaching staff for his knowledge and energy.
The Gunners have a close-knit group in the dugout that has helped to guide the team to the quarter-finals of the Champions League and to fight for the Premier League title. But Arteta can see scope to improve Arsenal’s coaching staff, which has rarely changed in recent years.
Terry Mason is the only addition that Arteta has made to Arsenal’s backroom team since July 2021. The Gunners promoted him from the academy after two years to be the assistant first-team goalkeeper coach working under Inaki Cana Pavon before the current 2023/24 season.
Mikel Arteta would love Santi Cazorla to join Arsenal’s coaching staff
Pavon has been a part of Arsenal’s coaching staff since December 2019 when the club hired Arteta as their manager. Assistant coach Albert Stuivenberg also joined the Gunners back in December 2019, while Carlos Cuesta and Miguel Molina both joined Arsenal in August 2020.
Video analyst Kevin Balvers and set-piece specialist Nicolas Jover were the last additions the Gunners made to Arteta’s coaching staff before Mason stepped up from Arsenal’s academy. The pair both arrived at Emirates Stadium in July 2021, with Arteta keeping faith in his crew.
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Jover joining Arsenal’s coaching staff had a particularly useful impact on Arteta’s side. The Gunners went from scoring six goals from set-pieces in 2020/21 for the 17th-best record for Premier League clubs to scoring 16 times in 2021/22, 15 in 2022/23 and 18 so far this term.
Santi Cazorla made 98 appearances for Arsenal beside Mikel Arteta
Now, though, Arteta has admitted that he would love Arsenal hero Santi Cazorla to return to north London and join his coaching staff. The tactician would love the knowledge and energy his compatriot would provide when the Spaniard eventually calls time on his playing career.
“[It would be] depending on the role,” Arteta has told Sky Sports News (13/04, 12:22) about which ex-teammate he would want on Arsenal’s coaching staff. “You know my sympathy for Santi because we used to get on really, really well and I think he had an unbelievable energy.
“To have someone like that, that can transmit his knowledge but his energy, as well, to the team I think wouldn’t be bad.”
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Cazorla is still playing at 39 years old after returning to his first club, Real Oviedo, in August. He is a product of their academy and also enjoyed spells at Villarreal and Malaga before his move to Arsenal in 2012. Cazorla enjoyed six years at Arsenal before he re-joined Villarreal.
His time at Emirates Stadium featured two FA Cup winners’ medals after Cazorla helped the Gunners win the trophy in 2014 and 2015. He also featured 180 times with Arsenal, with 29 goals and 45 assists. Cazorla got 98 of his Arsenal appearances with Arteta in the midfield.