Championship playoff hopefuls Norwich City have apparently identified Arsenal assistant Carlos Cuesta as a prime candidate to become their next head coach.
Rather than pursue a career as a player, Cuesta entered the world of football coaching as a teenager and has since risen to prominence as part of Mikel Arteta's backroom staff.
The 28-year-old served as the assistant manager of Atletico Madrid's Under-17s between 2014 and 2018, after which he moved to Italy and spent two years with Juventus' Under-17s.
Just after his 25th birthday, Cuesta was hired by Arsenal to join Arteta's team, and the Spaniard's stock has risen exponentially thanks to his role in the Gunners' rise to Premier League title challengers.
Alongside Arteta, Albert Stuivenberg and Steve Round - who departed at the end of last season - Cuesta has helped Arsenal win two Community Shields and end their seven-year exile from the Champions League with a second-placed Premier League finish in 2022-23.
The Gunners - who were absent from Europe entirely during Cuesta's second year at the club - qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League in first place from Group B, while they are also just two points behind Liverpool in third place in the Premier League table this time around.
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The former Juventus and Atletico coach specialises in individual development with Arsenal players, making use of videos to provide in-depth tactical analysis, and he speaks a total of six languages - English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, French and Catalan.
Cuesta's contract with Arsenal expires at the end of the current campaign, though, and according to The Guardian, Norwich are interested in appointing him as their new manager for next season.
The Canaries are currently under the wing of David Wagner, who has seen his side collect 48 points from 32 Championship games this season to sit seventh in the table, only behind Coventry City on goal difference in the final playoff spot.
Norwich have already recruited Ben Knapper from Arsenal, hiring the former Scunthorpe United analyst as their new sporting director in 2023 following a four-year spell as the Gunners' loan manager.
Cuesta formed a strong bond with Knapper during the latter's time at Arsenal, and the Spaniard is believed to be open to working with his former Gunners colleague again.
The report adds that Cuesta could be tempted to take on his first job as head coach, although he would be unlikely to consider a change of scene until the end of the season as Arsenal chase success in the Premier League and Champions League.
Several other Championship teams are also said to be running the rule over Cuesta, but Arsenal are supposedly hoping to fend off interest in Arteta's right-hand man this summer.
Ben Knapton
