Everton tried to lure Mikel Arteta as manager but he chose Arsenal | OneFootball

PSV‘s general manager Marcel Brands has revealed he attempted to snatch Mikel Arteta away from Manchester City when Brands was still at Everton.

Brands, who previously worked in England, targeted Arteta while he was Pep Guardiola‘s assistant at Manchester City, before he moved to Arsenal. Recognising Arteta‘s potential as a “top coach”, Brands personally visited Arteta and presented him as the ideal candidate for the Everton job.

“He is also a former player, of course,” Brands said on the Dutch podcast ‘De Beslissers van FC Afkicken’. “I spent the entire evening at his house and I saw him as the ideal man for us. I immediately saw a top coach. Then he was still an assistant to Pep Guardiola and he was busy with other things. But you could see that this was becoming a top coach.

“I only heard positive things,” Brands continued. “Also within the Everton club. Then I was at his house to sound him out and then I became so enthusiastic. So well prepared and that passion came out everywhere. His mouth, his nose and his ears.”

Despite being impressed by Arteta‘s passion and preparation, Brands acknowledged the limitations of a young manager. He admitted the Everton owner wasn’t comfortable with the idea of a long-term project that wouldn’t guarantee immediate results.

“He will not give us fifteen points in the first five games,” Brands added. “But the owner did not dare to do it with a young coach. Then I asked if he wanted to listen to that presentation, but he didn’t want to. I thought that was a shame. Then Arteta chose Arsenal after that.

“I thought this is the coach, but for the long term,” Brands said.