The Gunners midfielder has been quizzed about a possible successor to Arsene Wenger, with a summer of change set to bring a new boss to the Emirates
Mikel Arteta is among those in the running to succeed Arsene Wenger at Arsenal, and Aaron Ramsey believes a former team-mate will be a “fantastic manager”.
With a man who has spent 22 years at the Gunners helm preparing to step down, those at Emirates Stadium are busy piecing together plans on how to replace him.
A list of potential candidates includes proven winners, such as Luis Enrique and Massimiliano Allegri, and a number of former favourites who boast strong ties to the club.
Arteta slips in the latter of those categories, alongside the likes of Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry, with the Spaniard expected to soon head out on his own after cutting his coaching teeth alongside Pep Guardiola at Premier League champions Manchester City.
While stopping short of touting him for a role back at Arsenal, Wales international Ramsey feels a man who spent five years in north London before hanging up his boots in 2016 is destined to become a top coach.
He told reporters ahead of a Europa League semi-final clash with Atletico Madrid: “Mikel was a fantastic player for Arsenal and a great captain.
“He’s been under Pep Guardiola there, he was always interested even when he was playing here in going into a coaching role one day, I’m sure he’s learning a lot about the game and especially the way Man City have been playing.
“They’ve done fantastically well, so I’m sure that one day when the time is right, he’ll be a fantastic manager. It’s still early days in his career at the moment.”
While Arteta may form part of Arsenal’s future, the present sees the Gunners desperately trying to offer Wenger a fitting send-off.
Ramsey remains determined to secure major silverware for an iconic figure and admits it will be “weird” reporting for pre-season training over the summer once the long-serving Frenchman has departed.
He added on the importance of securing continental glory this season: “It’s a massive motivation, to put the emotional side to one side and use it to go on and win this trophy for him.
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“It’s going to be weird next season when he’s not here but for now he is, and we have to finish the season off as strongly as possible. You’ve seen with the amount of fans that turned up on Sunday, and the noise they produced when they got right behind the team, and hopefully they can give him the send-off he deserves.
“We all sort of knew that one day he was always going to step down as manager, and that day has come and it was a massive shock to the team.
“But we have to put those emotions behind us and use it as motivation as well to finish off the season strongly, and hopefully we can lift something for him and let the other emotions come in after that when the season is finished. Then we’ll go from there.”
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