Arsenal plot Man United icon swoop as Mikel Arteta prepares for 'unstoppable' summer raid

Mikel Arteta has already revealed he faces the 'unstoppable' task of holding onto his backroom staff this summer, so the Arsenal boss has reportedly lined up a move for a former Manchester United defender.

Albert Stuivenberg and Carlos Cuesta have both been heavily linked with moves from the Emirates Stadium this season as the Gunners continue to reap the rewards of their hard work on the training pitches at London Colney. The former was in contention for the Ajax job, while the latter courted interest from Norwich City.

Speaking to reporters in February, Arteta was quizzed about his staff being linked with top head coach jobs. The Spaniard replied: "If that’s their will? You cannot [stop them]. I wouldn’t, no.

"It’s very important, and with the staff as well. I think everybody needs to feel that there is a path, there is a development plan for everyone. People don’t want to do the same thing for three, four, five years you know, and there is a way to incentivise people, to inspire other people, and then to explore.

"Because you don’t really know the limit of a person unless you expose him to certain things. I think curiosity is a really important quality that we have within our young staff, and that thrives.

"We all need opportunities. I got an opportunity when I didn’t have any experience in coaching, first of all at Man City and then here, and I’m very grateful for that."

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However, in spite of this, Arteta has poached a couple of coaches of his own during his time at Arsenal. Nicolas Jover was brought in from Manchester City as a set-piece specialist and Inaki Cana joined from Brentford as a goalkeeping coach.

And, this summer, the Gunners boss is reportedly set to further bolster his backroom staff. According to ESPN Argentina journalist Leandro Alves, Gabriel Heinze is currently in London and the former Manchester United defender is believed to have held talks with Arsenal over the possibility of joining the first-team coaching team.

The report states that Heinze has the option of taking over San Lorenzo in the Argentinean top flight. Arteta and the 45-year-old played alongside one another at Paris Saint-Germain in 2001/02 before the Arsenal boss joined Rangers.