Carlos Cuesta spent five years working alongside Mikel Arteta at Arsenal before leaving to become head coach of Parma last summer.
Nobody outside the club knows the Arsenal manager better.
Speaking in an interview with The Telegraph, Cuesta was asked how hard it was to leave Arsenal, who have just won the Premier League and are preparing for Saturday’s Champions League final.
There was a long pause before he answered.
“A lot. A lot,” Cuesta said. “For many reasons. Many reasons. Especially because of the quality of the people and the beauty of the project.
“I know that, I’m convinced, the best is yet to come. And especially because of the people and especially Mikel.”
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He continued, “What people see of Mikel is great. But the best from him is what people don’t see. How he is as a human being, as a leader, as a person, as a coach.
“And everyone in the organisation. They deserve it because of all the hard work. Not only hard work, but good work. Vision. Strategy. Belief. There is a lot. So, credit to them.”
Cuesta has since struck out on his own at Parma, where his youthful side finished 13th in Serie A.
Carlos Cuesta knows Mikel Arteta better than almost anyone
Carlos Cuesta first encountered Mikel Arteta while the latter was still working under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, the two sharing ideas about football for years before eventually joining forces at Arsenal.
During his five years at Arsenal, Cuesta had a strong influence on individual players — his conversations with Bukayo Saka and Ben White featured prominently in the club’s All or Nothing documentary.
His personal touch with players close to him in age was also credited as a significant factor in their development.
He still speaks to Arteta often. And while he is careful not to dwell on Arsenal now that he has his own project at Parma to focus on, the affection and admiration is clearly still there.
Those inside Arsenal describe Arteta as an obsessive who works 90-hour weeks without realising.
Cuesta’s portrait of the man behind the manager paints a similar picture. On Saturday in Budapest, that man has the chance to complete the greatest season in the club’s history.
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