‘Arteta needs money and three years to sort Arsenal’ – Gunners must be patient, says Nicholas

Mikel Arteta will need money to reinforce Arsenal’s leaky defence and three years to turn the Gunners around if he does take the reins at Emirates Stadium, says Charlie Nicholas.

A move to bring the Spaniard back to north London is said to be edging closer.

Arteta was alongside Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola as the Blues made their way into the Carabao Cup semi-finals, and a derby date with United, on Wednesday.

It is, however, expected that he will be given the opportunity to head out on his own when agreeing to become Unai Emery’s successor.

A big job awaits the former Arsenal captain back in familiar surroundings, with the Gunners having hit an alarming slump.

Nicholas admits patience will be required with a managerial rookie, but expects Arteta to get that and the backing he needs from an under-fire board when it comes to rebuilding in the transfer market.

The former Arsenal forward told Sky Sports: “I don’t have any doubts [Arteta being given time].

“I think Arsenal fans probably can’t believe how far they’ve fallen in such a short period of time.

“When Emery came in I think we all went ‘Well, understandable, he’s been at very successful clubs in Spain, he was at PSG where he worked with [Kylian] Mbappe, Neymar, [Edinson] Cavani, so he’s used to working with big-name players and big-name reputations’.

“The problem that he never sorted was the prospects that the defence was getting poorer and poorer and poorer, and that’s why Arsene Wenger had to leave the football club.

“But because they’ve not sorted it, they’ve spent some money on it but it’s never been fixed, and I think Arteta knows if he’s going to come in he needs to be able to fix it.

“The academy looks as if it’s pretty promising although no defenders coming through.

“It’s a risk but I don’t think it’s a problem that I would look at to say ‘Is there a time expectation on him?’.

“No, if Arteta comes in for his first job, I think we all have to admit as Arsenal fans he has to be given a minimum three seasons to get this thing built back up again.”

If an agreement with Arteta is pushed through quickly, then it could be that his first outing in the Arsenal dugout comes against another of his former clubs, Everton, on Saturday.