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Football London
Football London
Sport
Richard Fay & Greg Johnson

'Mesut Ozil could do a Paul Pogba' - the Manchester United view on Mikel Arteta to Arsenal

Mikel Arteta has been confirmed as the new head coach of Arsenal.

Fans of Manchester United may feel like they know what comes next.

The Spaniard was a former players for the Gunners, and was captain under Arsene Wenger.

He has arrived in the job at a time of crisis after the dismissal of Unai Emery.

It is hoped that he can take the club back to their former glory, both in terms of competing for major trophies and their style of play.

Mikel Arteta's first Arsenal press conference in full

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has already travelled down a similar path himself at Old Trafford as a former protege of Sir Alex Ferguson brought in to raise standards at United.

Will Arteta provide his own short-term morale boost to Arsenal or bring about a far more substantial shift in their fortunes over time?

football.london spoke to Richard Fay of the Manchester Evening News to get the United view on the new appointment at the Emirates Stadium.

"On the face of it Mikel Arteta's move to Arsenal seems a little strange one.

"Club favourites coming back is all the rage at the moment but his appointment seems odd given that other top managers are available, a factor which gave Ole Gunnar Solskjaer the opportunity last December.

"During his time at City, Arteta has learned from the best, but then so did Paul Clement, Steve Clarke and Rene Meulensteen before embarking on under-whelming managerial careers.

"Arteta's arrival should see spirits lifted amongst fans, and it will be interesting to see which players get an opportunity under his tenure.

"Solskjaer's impact saw Paul Pogba have his best ever individual month for goal contributions, and the hope will be that Mesut Ozil could do the same.

"However, it is hard to see how any manager can turn that dire defensive core into top-four calibre.

"In essence United have already done this by appointing Solskjaer a year ago.

"His immediate influence was utterly incredible, before defeat at Arsenal began a run of form which saw the team spiral out of control.

"The idea of a club legend was certainly appealing after Jose Mourinho's reign but right now United fans just want success and many would probably swap Solskjaer given the option."

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