Arsenal interest in Mikel Arteta forces Pep Guardiola to line up replacement - report

Arsenal are looking to bring in a permanent head-coach in sooner rather than later as their bad form continues.

The Gunners lost 2-1 at home to Brighton on Thursday evening, which saw them drop to just five points above the drop zone.

Former player Freddie Ljungberg took over as interim coach after Unai Emery was sacked at the end of last month.

Arsenal have identified a number of candidates for the job and Mikel Arteta is reportedly one of their top targets.

The Manchester City assistant was linked to the hot-seat in 2018, but his compatriot Emery was hired instead.

Pep Guardiola is believed to be reluctant to see his right-hand man leave, but will reportedly not stand in Arteta's way if he decides to go.

The City boss has already lined up former assistant Domenec Torrent as Arteta's replacement, according to The Sun.

Torrent worked with Guardiola at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Man City, until he departed to join New York City FC last year.

The pair have won a staggering 24 trophies together and it's understood that Torrent's return would be popular amongst the City players.

Arteta, however, still has 18 months left on his current contract, worth £800k per-year.

Arsenal would have to pay some form of compensation if they were to decide on hiring their former captain.

It's reported that Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke and his son Josh will have the ultimate say on who the next head coach is.

Everton are reportedly also interested in bringing in Arteta as a replacement for the recently sacked Marco Silva.

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