Mikel Arteta: Arsenal midfielder lined up for coaching role at Pep Guardiola's Manchester City

The Spaniard is committed to a move into coaching once he decides to end his playing career

Arsenal midfielder Mikel Arteta (Getty Images)

Pep Guardiola may offer Mikel Arteta his first full-time coaching role at Manchester City if the Arsenal midfielder brings his playing career to an end this summer.

Arteta, whose contract at the Emirates expires in June, is believed to have recently visited the Bayern Munich head coach at the club’s training complex, Sabener Strasse, according to The Times.

The pair are friends, having both graduated from La Masia and played for Barcelona during the late 1990s and early 2000s, before the 33-year-old midfielder went to forge a first-team career away from the Nou Camp.

Arteta is committed to becoming a coach once his playing career is over and, having been limited to only eight appearances this season through a recurring calf problem, a move into coaching may occur sooner rather than later.

The Spaniard has focused on completing his coaching badges while out of contention for the first-team and Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has shown an interest in appointing Arteta to his own coaching staff.

Arteta is also a close friend of Guardiola’s long-serving fitness coach Lorenzo Buenaventura, according to The Times’ report, who is expected to join the two-time Champions League-winning coach at the Etihad next season.