Mikel Arteta is being lined up as a future Arsenal manager as the club continue to plan for life after Arsene Wenger.

Arteta is currently working as assistant coach at runaway Premier League leaders Manchester City after becoming the first confirmed member of Pep Guardiola’s backroom team last summer.

The 35-year-old spent five years at Arsenal as a player, captaining the club for the final two of those, and the Gunners were prepared to offer Arteta a place on their coaching staff after he announced his retirement. But Arteta decided to join City to learn under Guardiola, also turning down the chance to join Mauricio Pochettino’s coaching staff at Tottenham Hotspur.

That has not affected the high regard in which Arteta is held at Arsenal, however, and his success alongside Guardiola has only strengthened the feeling inside the club that he will eventually be the perfect candidate for the job of manager.

Arteta was part of a group, which included Thierry Henry, who completed their Uefa Pro Licence in September and is due to receive formal confirmation he has gained his final coaching badge.

Wenger has another year remaining on his contract after this season and the timing could be perfect for Arteta to succeed the Frenchman, following a further 12 months with Guardiola at City.

Arsene Wenger has another year remaining on his contract after this season credit: GETTY IMAGES

Guardiola will only have one season remaining on the three-year deal he initially signed at the end of this campaign, but City want to extend his contract. That would leave Arteta having to look outside City, where he is extremely highly rated, for his first job in management, and Arsenal would be ideal.

Amid the uncertainty over whether or not Wenger would sign a new contract last season was the confusion over what Arsenal’s succession plan would be. Thomas Tuchel, who was sacked by Borussia Dortmund, Carlo Ancelotti and Leonardo Jardim have all be linked with Arsenal, but there has not been a stand-out candidate to replace Wenger.

Josh Kroenke, son and heir to Arsenal owner Stan, is a big fan of Henry, who is an assistant to Roberto Martinez with the Belgian national team. Arteta would be seen as an attractive option to both the board and the Arsenal fans with his work at City winning a number of admirers.

Mikel Arteta (right) was a popular player at Arsenal credit: AP

The Spaniard hit the headlines last week after being left with a cut above his eyebrow as a result of the Old Trafford tunnel row following City’s victory over United, which is the subject of a Football Association investigation.

Guardiola last month credited Arteta for the superb form of Raheem Sterling, who took his tally in all competitions to 15 with two more goals against Tottenham Hotspur. Speaking in November, Guardiola said: “Mikel Arteta is working many, many days after training sessions for the last action, for the control in the last moment.”

Pochettino outlined in his book why he wanted to take his former Paris Saint-Germain team-mate to Tottenham by writing: “I am very fond of him and he will make an exceptional coach.”

Just as his Barcelona background helped him land a job with Guardiola at City, Arteta’s playing education at the La Liga club is a big plus within the corridors of power at Arsenal.

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The Gunners have completed an overhaul behind the scenes over recent months, with Raul Sanllehi the most recent appointment as head of football relations. Arteta is known to Sanllehi, who worked at Barcelona for 14 years, most recently as director of football, and helped Guardiola assemble his 2009 treble-winning squad.

The arrivals of Sanllehi and Sven Mislintat, as head of recruitment, were part of the most wide-ranging changes since Wenger took over as manager in 1996 and, although the Frenchman agreed to them, they are designed to strengthen the infrastructure ahead of his eventual departure.

Arsenal have also made a recent conscious effort to give jobs to their former players, having previously also lost Patrick Vieira to City, with Jens Lehmann returning and Per Mertesacker becoming Academy manager next season.

Arteta will be on the City bench for Tuesday night’s Carabao Cup quarter-final against Leicester City, while Wenger’s Arsenal take on West Ham United in the same competition. Wenger has confirmed Theo Walcott will play in the game after losing his place in Arsenal’s Premier League match-day squad in recent weeks.

Theo Walcott has been linked with a January move away from the Emirates credit: GETTY IMAGES

Walcott has been linked with a January move away from the Emirates, although Wenger has claimed he wants the former England international to stay. Olivier Giroud could also start after stepping back down to the substitutes’ bench against Newcastle, and Wenger said: “Some players are a little bit on the edge.

“I think as well that we have so many quality players who did not start on Saturday, so you cannot say that you prefer to play a player who has played three games in six days to a guy who is at the same level and is completely fresh.

“The players who will start (against West Ham) are basically all international players, so that’s why I think squad rotation makes sense. You have as well to show the trust and the confidence that we have in the players who did not start last week.”