Emmanuel Petit reckons Mikel Arteta “will leave” Arsenal for Barcelona in the future as their Premier League title pursuit continues to wobble.
The Gunners were held to a 2-2 draw on Wednesday night against Wolves as Arsenal extended their lead at the top of the Premier League to five points.
However, if Manchester City win their game in hand on Saturday the gap will be down to two points and the Citizens have the title in their hands, as they still have to play Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium in April.
There have been rumours that Arsenal will look to make a change in management if the Gunners fail to win the Premier League title this season after finishing second in each of their last three campaigns.
But Petit thinks Arteta could eventually leave Arsenal to take over at La Liga giants Barcelona in the future as he has strong connections at the Catalan club.
Petit told BetBrothers: “Mikel Arteta will one day manage Barcelona, I think eventually we’ll see that. The connections are strong. But I think it depends on how he wants to deal with his managerial career, in terms of having his mind set to be there forever, like a one-club man sort of thing.
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“Does he really want to experience football in different countries? To be honest, if he is to leave Arsenal, I see him more likely to go abroad than to another Premier League club. So, obviously, I’d say Barca would be his favourite next move if he were to leave Arsenal.”
On his future at Arsenal, Petit added: “To be honest, I don’t know what’s best. If he wins, he will leave. If he doesn’t win, he will leave. I don’t know. If he wins, he might continue to increase the number of trophies.
“We would have to be in Arteta’s head to think what he wants to do in the future. But for me, I see him more on the long term, as long as possible to stay at Arsenal, rather than moving somewhere else, than leaving any time soon.”
And Petit reckons former Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas, who is currently in charge of Serie A side Como, could be the man to take over from Arteta if he leaves for Barcelona.
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Petit continued: “I think Cesc Fabregas will take his time because he has everything he needs at Como. He wants players, they bring him players. Whatever he wants, they bring it to him. And that’s allowing him to have that kind of power in the decision-making.
“I think I saw something this weekend which I haven’t seen throughout the season with Alvaro Morata. Morata got sent off because he reacted to a provocation and Fabregas came out publicly to say, you know, he should know better.
“I think it’s the first time he goes public about a player instead of, you know, going public as he probably did in the past. So for me, that’s showing personality, showing, ‘I’m the boss,’ and that obviously is a sign of ‘I’m going to be here for a while.
“His former clubs will let managers go and obviously Chelsea, Arsenal, I mean really any club at the top, will be looking at him as an option because he’s doing an incredible job at Como.”
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