Mikel Arteta is set to lose one of his key Arsenal allies with assistant head coach Carlos Cuesta set to join Parma.
The 29-year-old joined the Gunners five years ago having gained experience with Atletico Madrid and Juventus.
Cuesta was heavily linked with a move to Norwich last year but was persuaded to remain with the north London club.
The opportunity to take a head coach role for a Serie A club has, however, proved too good an opportunity to resist and a formal announcement will be made in the coming days, according to Fabrizio Romano.
Cuesta’s exit represents a fresh blow for Arteta who will now, in conjunction with sporting director Andrea Berta, need to hire a replacement or promote from within.
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Despite his relative lack of experience, Cuesta was a popular and highly regarded member of staff who had taken on increased responsibility over the course of the last 12 months.
The Spaniard featured prominently working one-on-one with senior first team players in the Amazon documentary ‘All Or Nothing’ which charted Arsenal’s 2022/23 Premier League campaign.
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’s ambition for a head coach role has been no secret but the timing of his departure could prove problematic given Arsenal have several fires to put out in the coming weeks, before the start of pre-season.
It was hoped that Gabriel Magalhaes’ decision to sign a new long-term contract would spark a wave of similar renewals, but the likes of Bukayo Saka, William Saliba, Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly are yet to follow suit.
Jorginho’s departure, meanwhile, is likely to be offset by the imminent arrival of Martin Zubimendi from Real Socieded but the uncertainty surrounding Thomas Partey’s future means Arsenal are likely to require another central midfielder.
Zubimendi aside, Arsenal appear to have made little progress in terms of their anticipated recruitment drive.
A new winger was seen as a must, but Nico Williams, a long-term target, is now on the cusp of signing for Barcelona, while a deal for Real Madrid’s Rodrygo appears fanciful at this stage.
Given last season’s title bid unfolded following injuries to Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus, a new striker looked to be the No.1 priority but Arsenal appear to be caught in a quandary.
With Alexander Isak viewed as unobtainable, the choice now boils down to either Viktor Gyokeres and Benjamin Sesko butit remains unclear which centre forward they are primarily targeting.
