Mikel Arteta is now the strong favourite to become the new Arsenal head coach.
Gunners managing director Vinai Venkatesham and club lawyer Huss Fahmy were pictured leaving the former midfielder's home during the early hours of this morning, with the duo reported to have held a two-and-a-half hour meeting with the Manchester City assistant coach before leaving at around 1.20am.
Arsenal have been without a permanent manager since the sacking of Unai Emery last month, with former midfielder Freddie Ljungberg placed in charge as interim manager as the club began their search.
The Swede has overseen five games in all competitions, but has won just one game during that time against West Ham.
The Gunners fell to a 3-0 defeat to Man City on Sunday, with Arteta in the opposition dugout alongside Pep Guardiola.
But the Spaniard, who spent five years at Arsenal before heading to the Etihad Stadium, now looks to be clear frontrunner to succeed Emery.
If Arteta lands the job, it is not yet known who could join his backroom staff as it would be his first full-time management role.
One name that has been mentioned is Xabi Alonso. The former Liverpool midfielder is making his first strides in management after taking over at Real Sociedad B in the summer, but was previously linked with a coaching role at Arsenal when Arteta was first interviewed to replace Arsene Wenger in 2018.
Having grown up together in San Sebastian, Arteta and Alonso went to different schools, but both honed their skills at amateur Spanish club Antiguoko, a feeder club for Real Sociedad.
Arteta later sealed a move to Barcelona, but the ex-Everton man later returned to Sociedad whilst Alonso joined Liverpool.
And Arsenal supporters believe if Arteta is appointed, it would be logical to appoint his good friend who is also tipped for a big future in management.
"We are pals from a long time ago – since we were small children," explained Alonso to the Liverpool Echo in 2008.
"We used to live really close and we used to play football and tennis together.
"Mikel was really skillful even then. You could see he would become a good player.
"You never know what’s going to happen in the future, but he was more or less the best player of his age group.
"After so many years, to meet in the same city, in another country, for teams on the opposite side of the same park is a great story."
