Mikel Arteta ‘greatly wants’ the Arsenal job, so much so that he’s already made plans for his backroom staff if he joins, according to reports.

Miguel Delaney writes, in Tuesday’s edition of The Independent, that Max Allegri’s public declaration that he plans to stay at Juventus leaves the way clear for Arteta to take the Arsenal job. Nothing is final just yet, but sources close to the situation believe the Spaniard is Wenger’s most likely successor.

Delaney argues that there is a lot of internal logic to the move. Arsenal are looking to move away from the traditional all-powerful manager. Instead, they’ve brought in the likes of Sven Mislintat, Raul Sanllehi and Darren Burgess to take over various managerial aspects. Then all the new boss has to do is coach the team to win matches.

That doesn’t rule out Allegri by any means, and he’s certainly still a candidate. It just means there’s less of a requirement for Wenger’s replacement to be able to run the entire club.

In addition, the club are apparently considering hiring an experienced assistant to work alongside Arteta, if he gets the job. Again, that would help him navigate any potential hurdles in his first managerial appointment.

The Independent write that sources say Arteta is brilliant at dealing with the Manchester City squad, he has an excellent tactical overview of the game, and he’s an assertive character. Those are all the ingredients he’ll need to succeed at Arsenal.

We’ll have to wait and see if the board really choose him, and how he performs in his first season. However, I see no reason to panic, or not to give him a chance. The club could do far worse than a man trained to lead by Arsene Wenger and Pep Guardiola.