‘No doubt about that’: Tottenham now want a manager who is a huge fan of Mikel Arteta at Arsenal

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According to Sky Sports, Vincent Kompany is emerging as a credible name as Tottenham Hotspur search for a replacement for Antonio Conte.

It is intriguing to hear that Spurs are keen on Kompany. After all, he’s never managed at the top level, but he has had a first-class footballing education from one of the best managers around.

Indeed, having worked alongside Pep Guardiola, the Belgian has been taught by the very best around, and you can see Guardiola’s fingerprints all over Kompany’s Burnley team.

Hiring a Pep disciple is a very popular move these days with the likes of Xavi and Erik ten Hag thriving at Barcelona and Manchester United.

Of course, the most famous Pep disciple is Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta, and, interestingly, Kompany has gone on the record to praise Arteta in the past.

Kompany a fan of Arteta

The Burnley boss spoke very highly of Arteta earlier this year.

“He was hungry, he was very active, full of energy, and obviously he was in a good environment to develop and grow his own ideas,” said Kompany.

“I’m not surprised he’s been doing well with Arsenal and definitely he’s going to continue doing well, there’s no doubt about that.

“You could see Mikel was in that transition moment from being a player to being a coach. Like any good coaching staff is supposed to work he was definitely an extension of Pep, probably the one in the coaching staff that was closer to the players, and understanding fully what Pep wanted as a manager.

“The only thing I could see at the time is it was a very natural good relationship, understanding, a great compatibility between the two. I could draw the link to what he’s doing now and that’s why I’m not surprised.

“He’s been in a good environment, he’s been willing to learn. He’s got the energy and especially the resilience to deal with setbacks and keep going, draw his own conclusions and improve. That’s why I think he’s doing so well with Arsenal.”

Friendly rivalry

We’ve seen fireworks between the Arsenal and Tottenham managers in recent years, but if Kompany ends up in the Spurs dugout, the north London derby could end up being more of a friendly rivalry.

Indeed, Kompany and Arteta are good friends from their time together at Man City, and it sounds as though there is a lot of mutual respect there.

This will be an intriguing little sub-plot to follow if Kompany does indeed end up taking the Spurs job.