According to reports, Barcelona is keeping a careful check on Mikel Arteta, the manager of Arsenal, in case they decide to hire the 40-year-old in the future. Arteta worked as Pep Guardiola's assistant at Manchester City while learning the game before taking over for Unai Emery at Arsenal in December 2019.
In his first half-season with the Gunners, the Spaniard won the FA Cup and the Community Shield, but their Premier League standings were far from stellar.
Arteta's future has been called into question because of Arsenal's past problems at home and because the former Everton player hasn't been able to get the Gunners back into the top four.
However, Arsenal have had a fantastic start to the season under the Spaniard this year, earning 31 of the first 36 Premier League points available to hold the top spot in the standings.
As a result of the Gunners' success in the Europa League, Arteta was given a new deal that runs through 2025 back in May.
Before Xavi was hired, Arteta was linked to Barcelona, and Sport says that the Catalan club is still keeping an eye on the former player.
According to the article, Barcelona's management "highly values" the work Arteta is doing for Arsenal, but they are unlikely to fire Xavi for at least a few more years.
The fact that Arteta is known to get along well with Jordi Cruyff and Mateu Alemany would help Barcelona's prospects of recruiting him, but the Arsenal manager has no immediate plans to leave the Emirates.
Additionally, Arteta's handling of the Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang situation is said to have impressed Barcelona. Reports say that the Arsenal manager didn't think twice about taking the striker's captaincy away for bad behavior.
In the 147 games he has coached Arsenal over the last three years, Arteta has won 87, tied 21, and lost 39. He will try to lead his team to the top of their Europa League group on Thursday against FC Zurich.
As they are ready for back-to-back seasons in the second tier of European football, Barcelona, who can only finish third in their Champions League group, will join the Gunners in the Europa League knockout stage.
After their Champions League elimination, Joan Laporta publicly defended Xavi, who was under fire, saying: "The outcome is regrettable, but neither the players nor the coach are to blame. We must look ahead because La Liga and other competitions are still to come.
On Tuesday night, Barcelona will play the final match of their Champions League season away at Viktoria Plzen. The Blaugrana are currently second in La Liga, one point behind Real Madrid.
