Tony Cascarino feels Mikel Arteta would be the ideal man to succeed Arsene Wenger as Arsenal manager.

Arteta is currently a coach at Manchester City and has played a big part in their current success.

Arsenal offered him a role as a youth coach after he retired, but the chance to learn under Pep Guardiola was too big for him to pass up.

Still, there’s no reason why Arteta couldn’t return to Arsenal in the future. Tony Cascarino even thinks that Arsenal should consider the Spaniard as a potential successor to Arsene Wenger.

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During the Barclays Premier League match between Arsenal and Aston Villa at Emirates Stadium on May 15, 2016 in London, England.

“If Arsenal have not considered Mikel Arteta as the best person to succeed Arsène Wenger, they should,” he wrote in his column for The Times. “They ought to take note of the kind of people who think Arteta is going to be a special manager.

“How about Pep Guardiola, who has known Arteta since he was a teenager in Barcelona’s youth teams? “Months before Guardiola arrived at Manchester City, he had identified Arteta as somebody he needed to have with him to help understand English football.

“As important as all of that, of course, is the fact Arteta knows Arsenal. He understands what the fans — where the younger supporters have only known Wenger as manager — expect from their team.

“Arteta has always seemed like a smart man, he has always been considered in what he has said in public.”

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Arsenal’s French manager Arsene Wenger (L) and Manchester City’s Spanish manager Pep Guardiola gesture on the touchline during the FA Cup semi-final football match between Arsenal and Manchester City at Wembley stadium in London on April 23, 2017. (GLYN KIRK/AFP/Getty Images)

The ex-player coming in to take over as manager is a popular scenario but one that rarely ends in success if they have no real experience.

Arteta could be an excellent coach in the making, but going from first-team coach to Arsenal manager would be a step too far too early into his coaching career, I feel.

That he knows Arsenal shouldn’t give him the edge over established managers with a lot more experience. The ex-midfielder spent five seasons at Arsenal after joining from Everton in 2011.

He helped settle things down during a unstable time for the club and brought together a cosmopolitan dressing room. Arteta retired from football in 2016.