Arsenal appear to edging closer to finding Unai Emery's successor after Vinai Venkatesham was pictured leaving Mikel Arteta's house in the early hours of the morning according to The Mirror.
The club's chief executive was joined by club lawyer Huss Fahmy who is understood to be the Gunners' chief negotiator. Sky Sports have since reported that Manchester City will respond by asking Arteta to clarify his future with the club.
Venkatesham's meeting with the Spaniard also came just hours after Freddie Ljungberg publicly urged the club to make a decision on who will become the next head coach.
"It's a great honour to do this but Per (Mertesacker) is an academy manager and is doing two jobs in one go," he said in his post-match press conference.
"I've said I think it needs to be cleared up, to make a decision so everyone knows.
"That's something I've said but it's totally up to the club. I'm very honoured and I'll do what I can but it'll be good to make a decision regardless of what it is."
To get the lowdown on Arteta's involvement and how coaching philosophies have developed, we spoke to Manchester Evening News' Stuart Brennan.
Q: How involved does Mikel Arteta get in Manchester City's training session?
Very, more so than Pep, who takes more of an overseer role. He gets much of the credit for improving individuals - Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling have both flagged up his part in improving them as individuals. He has also stayed late with Gabriel Jesus, with the Brazil star needing work on his finishing.
Q: How did he handle taking over from Pep Guardiola when the Spaniard had his suspension in the Champions League?
It was a poor performance at home to Lyon, but that is not really down to Arteta - Lyon were excellent on the night, and City had a few individual nightmares. There was a suggestion that he does not have the same touchline presence as Guardiola - but who does?
Q: What he bring the same blueprint as Pep, or will he have his own ideas?
He shares the same basic philosophy, both Barcelona products, so you would expect it to be very similar. Of course, the problem is that Guardiola's squad was already being assembled, and the style of play was being instituted, for a couple of seasons before he took the job so he walked into a squad that was almost ready for him. Guardiola always makes the point that he needs the right players - so Arteta might have to adapt to the squad until he can start to make personnel changes
Q: Do you have an idea of what his backroom staff may look like? Could he take anyone with him from City?
I suspect City will resist that - losing Arteta and Torrent in quick succession is not good, so they will try to keep them. Arteta was, in one way, the outsider, stepping into a tried and trusted Pep coterie, so he is not likely to take anyone with him.
