Former Everton director of football Marcel Brands has confessed he “moved heaven and earth” to try to hire current Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta as manager at Goodison Park.
Arteta had been a player for Everton from 2005 and 2011 before concluding his playing days at Arsenal in 2016. He would become a coach at Manchester City under Pep Guardiola before being head-hunted by the Gunners in December 2019.
Brands, who was in charge of football at Everton when they sacked Marco Silva stated that he was close to bringing the Spaniard to Merseyside. “I moved heaven and earth to bring Arteta to Everton,” Brands told Dutch source Soccer News, as per Sport Witness. “He is also a former footballer of course. I spent the entire evening at his house, and I saw him as the ideal man for us.
“I immediately spotted a top trainer. At the time he was still an assistant to Pep Guardiola and he was busy with other things. But you noticed that he was becoming a superb trainer. I only heard wonderful stuff.
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“Also, within the club Everton. Then I was at his place to hear him out and I became so excited. So beautifully prepared, and that passion came out everywhere. His mouth, his nose and his ears. I felt this is the trainer, but for the long term.”
However, Arteta eventually got the top post at Arsenal during that same month after Unai Emery’s resignation with Everton preferring Carlo Ancelotti a day later. David Moyes was also considered for the post and explained last year how he nearly returned until Napoli’s choice to let Ancelotti go changed everything.
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