Arsenal face losing key figure in blow for Mikel Arteta | OneFootball

Arsenal assistant coach Carlos Cuesta is a top target for the vacant managerial role at Italian side Parma.

The 29-year-old would replace Cristian Chivu, who left for Inter to take over from Simone Inzaghi, and would become the second-youngest head coach in Serie A history, and the youngest this century.

Cuesta is highly thought of as one of the world’s best young coaches, and his departure would be a blow to Mikel Arteta and Arsenal.

He began his coaching career at Atletico Madrid in 2014 at 18-year-old, managing their Under-17 side for four seasons before leaving for Juventus in 2018 to take up a similar role.

The Spaniard joined Arsenal in 2020 and forms Arteta’s current backroom staff, which includes assistant coaches Albert Stuivenberg and Miguel Molina, set-piece coach Nicolas Jover and goalkeeping coach Iñaki Caña. All five members of staff signed contract extensions last season until 2027.

Parma finished 16th in Serie A last season after achieving promotion back to the Italian top-flight the season prior. Chivu was in charge of 13 matches after taking over in February, and guided The Yellow and Blues to safety on the final match of the season before departing for the San Siro at the start of June.

Cuesta had been linked to the vacant managerial job at Championship side Norwich City last year, with Arteta claiming those types of rumours are only positives.

“That’s great what has happened,” Arteta said. “Not only with the coaching staff but also certain staff, that other clubs are trying to come and get them which is always a really good sign that they’re doing a really good job and and we have the right people here.”

The Spaniard was a popular figure within the Arsenal camp, with former captain Granit Xhaka heaping the praises on the 29-year-old during an interview with the Athletic last year.

“My feeling from the first meeting with him was that first of all, as a person, he is very honest, very straight, but he also had great knowledge about football,” Xhaka said.

“He knows what he’s doing, he knows how to speak with the players, what the players need. It was just amazing from the beginning.”