Mikel Arteta has an impressive roster of coaching staff at Arsenal, and he has his own prodigy in Carlos Cuesta.
Arteta’s main assistant is Albert Stuivenberg, whilst set-piece coach Nicolas Jover has been lauded for his impact.
Cuesta works alongside the pair, and is a crucial member of Arteta’s coaching roster. Despite his young age, Cuesta has already been linked with managerial jobs elsewhere, but for now, he is settled at Arsenal.
But just who is Carlos Cuesta? Here’s everything you need to know about the Arsenal coach.
Who is Carlos Cuesta?
Cuesta joined Arsenal’s coaching staff in August 2020, with Arteta recruiting the then-25-year-old from the Juventus academy.
Cuesta does not have a playing background, and has had an unusual career path, initially joining Atletico Madrid as an academy manager, before moving to Juventus as an assistant.
The Spaniard impressed Arteta as early as 2019, whilst the Arsenal manager was still at Manchester City. As per The Athletic, Cuesta sent Arteta some of his tactical observations, and was invited to the training ground as a result.
This eventually led to his arrival at Arsenal, which certainly raised a few eyebrows.
Carlos Cuesta age, birthplace and languages spoken
Cuesta was born in Palma De Mallorca, Spain, on July 29, 1995, making him 29-years-old at the time of writing.
Remarkably, Carlos Cuesta is fluent in six languages: English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Catalan and French, with the Spaniard an excellent communicator.
What Granit Xhaka said about Carlos Cuesta
Cuesta is popular with the Arsenal squad, and former midfielder Granit Xhaka went out of his way to praise him in June 2024.
“Of course, you are always surprised when someone of that young age comes to a big club like Arsenal,” Xhaka claimed,
“My feeling from the first meeting with him was that first of all, as a person, he is very honest, very straight, but he also had great knowledge about football.
“He knows what he’s doing, he knows how to speak with the players, what the players need. It was just amazing from the beginning.”
Xhaka also highlighted Cuesta’s development at Arsenal over the years.
“How Carlos improved — day by day, month by month, year on year — was unbelievable. The individual meetings that we had with him were always on point, very clear to understand, and I was very grateful to learn many many new things.
“The relationship between Carlos and me was very special. I think how we were thinking as people was exactly the same. The honesty we showed each other, and other people, was always the same.
“He helped me a lot. We had so many individual meetings, video sessions, and conversations. To be honest, these things helped bring me where I am today.”
Carlos Cuesta attracted interest over managerial role
Cuesta’s rise at Arsenal has earned him admirers, and it was reported in February that Championship side Norwich City were eyeing him up for a managerial role.
Norwich director Ben Knapper previously worked for Arsenal, but they ultimately did not move for the Spaniard, before later hiring Jack Wilshere as a first-team coach.
What Mikel Arteta said about Arsenal coach Carlos Cuesta
Cuesta drew praise from Arteta when he was linked with Norwich, and the Arsenal boss was clearly keen on keeping him at the club.
“Yeah, that’s great what has happened, not only with the coaching staff but also certain staff, that other clubs are trying to come and get them which is always a really good sign that they’re doing a really good job and and we have the right people here,” Arteta claimed.
There are a lot of similarities between Cuesta and Arteta, with both capable of speaking several languages, as coaches younger than their competitors, and the Arsenal manager clearly sees a bright future in the Spaniard.
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