Carlos Cuesta has bid farewell to Mikel Arteta and Arsenal after confirming he will leave the club to take over at Parma.
The 29-year-old has been a highly-regarded member of the Arsenal coaching staff and one of Arteta’s closest confidantes at the Emirates for the last five seasons.
But he is now set to step out on his own with Parma turning to the Spaniard in their search for a replacement for Christian Chivu, who stepped down from his post to take the Inter Milan job.
Cuesta has now confirmed his imminent exit with an emotional goodbye to the Gunners.
‘After five beautiful years it’s hard to put this into words, but I can only express how grateful I am for having lived my day-to-day with such special people and feel what it means to represent this football club, with its incredible history and value,’ he wrote.
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‘The only thing I’ve ever tried to do was give everything I had inside of me every single day.
‘I was inspired by the culture that was created, by the hunger of every person of the organisation and by the unity that we had in any situation that we had to face.
‘It has been a privilege to have had the chance to work with the players, staff, directors and all the employees of the club and at the same time, to receive an extra push from our amazing fans in every match.
‘Because of the quality of its people, I’m convinced that the best moments for this football club are still yet to come. Enjoy the journey, because it is a very exciting one. Thank you Arsenal.’
Why is Carlos Cuesta so highly rated?
To those who have worked with Cuesta, it will come as no shock to see him emerging from Arteta’s shadow to take a senior role at a leading club.
Speaking to The Athletic last year, Granit Xhaka, who had moved to Bayer Leverkusen by that stage, gave an insight into how and why such a young coach was able to make the impression he did at Arsenal.
‘Of course, you are always surprised when someone of that young age comes to a big club like Arsenal,’ Xhaka said.
‘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.
‘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.”
‘How Carlos improved — day by day, month by month, year on year — was unbelievable. The individual meetings that we had with him were always on point, very clear to understand, and I was very grateful to learn many many new things
‘The relationship between Carlos and me was very special. I think how we were thinking as people was exactly the same. The honesty we showed each other, and other people, was always the same.
‘He helped me a lot. We had so many individual meetings, video sessions, and conversations. To be honest, these things helped bring me where I am today.’
Cuesta dedicated a second Instagram post to Arteta, ‘the man who made it happen’ for the young coach.
‘Thank you. That’s the only thing I can say,’ he wrote.
‘Thank you for your trust, for giving me the opportunity to be next to you and for showing me with constant facts which is the meaning of the word “courage”.
‘But more than that, thank you for being an incredible coach, an incredible leader, and an even better human being.
‘It has been a true privilege to learn from you, to feel your support in any circumstance and to share the ups and downs of the journey always seeing the positive side of it.
‘You’ve taught me a lot, and I will carry it always with me.
‘From the bottom of my heart, thank you.’
